The End: The Series Finale for The Catch
by Goodfella73
Summary: Alice, Ben, and their friends construct the mother of all cons for one purpose: to take down Rhys Griffiths and the Kensington Firm once and for all.
1. Chapter 1

On May 11, 2017, hours before the second season finale of "The Catch" aired, the decision was made to cancel the television series. As a result, many questions were left unanswered.

After much thought, I felt I needed to end the series on a positive high note. Thanks to the folks at , I'm able to do so.

"The Catch" is the creation and property of Jennifer Schuur, Kate Atkinson, and Helen Gregory. Any characters created within this medium are the property of this author and not to be used without permission. For entertainment purposes only.

 **The End**

 **The Series Finale for "The Catch."**

 **By Goodfella73**

Standing beside Danny, Alice watched the jet slowly taxi towards the runway. She thought she caught a brief glimpse of a hand waving from one of the small windows just before it made its final preparations for takeoff.

She never took her eyes from it as the jet hesitated for several seconds before accelerating, quickly rising from the landing strip into the air. Within a minute, it disappeared from view in the horizon.

A hand fell on her shoulder, startling her. She turned to face Ethan Ward, her ex-fiancé and the owner of the airport on which they stood. He held a cellphone to his ear while gently directing her to the vehicles.

"Hold them for another few minutes, Sam. I'm on my way." He dropped the phone into his jacket pocket. "The guards at the gate say two police cars are on their way to another part of the airport. I'm going to meet them at the gate, but you and Danny need to leave by the service entrance. Danny, you remember the one?"

Danny nodded, walking around to the driver side of the car. "We'll be back at AVI before they know it."

Alice turned back to Ethan. "What about you?"

"I'll be alright. I keep my vintage two-seater out here, my Gulfstream is here, I own the airport -"

"Ethan?"

He smiled. "I'll be fine, Allie. But you two need to go. Now."

Danny already had the luxury SUV powered up as Alice slid into the passenger seat. Ethan began to walk away but Alice grabbed his hand through the window. He looked down at it.

"Ethan … I don't know what to say."

He gave her a small smile and her hand a quick squeeze before turning for his car. Danny turned the wheel and took the vehicle towards the hangars.

#

 _Two Months Later …_

Sophie Novak awoke to a small ray of sunshine hitting her perfectly through a slit in her bedroom blinds. She yawned and stretched before swinging her legs out of her bed, slipping her feet into bedroom shoes staged on the floor.

She paused at the full-length mirror hanging on the wall by the bedroom door. Every day, for the past month since she was released from the hospital, she tried to exit without even looking at her image.

And every day, she failed.

She held up her shirt to expose the scar running almost perfectly vertical. A two-inch long scar, a reminder of the surgery that saved her life following the gunshot wound she suffered. She ran her finger over it momentarily before sighing. Pulling her shirt down, she opened her bedroom door.

A fresh pot of coffee awaited her when she walked into the kitchen. She reached into her cabinet and pulled out two mugs, setting them on the counter. The sugar container, creamer, and two spoons completed the display.

She began to reach for the remote to the small television by the refrigerator when she heard a knock at her door. Bypassing the remote, she walked out of the kitchen into her small but cozy living room. She gave it a once over before unlocking the door and pulling it open.

The Hammer stood outside, gloved hands crossed in front of him. He gave a small bow at the waist. "Good morning."

"Morning. Come on in." Sophie stepped aside to allow the Hammer entry. "Coffee's ready."

They sat at the breakfast nook and sipped their coffee in silence. The television was on and set to a local news channel. Sophie winced as a report of a shooting that occurred the night before scrolled across at the bottom of the screen.

The Hammer watched her carefully from behind his mug. "Are you sure you're ready to go back to work? Alice and Val said that you could take all the time you need."

Sophie reached for the remote and muted the television. "I know. I'm scared that I sit here every day thinking to myself that the more I'm here, the less I would want to go. I _love_ my job. I love what I do, the people I work with … everything."

She fell silent, looking at the TV. The Hammer took another sip of his drink and set the mug down. "You went through a very traumatic experience. No one would fault you if you don't come back."

Sophie shook her head. "No one except me."

#

White Collar Division Special Agent Aaron Tucker looked across his desk at his colleague several times while reading the document before him. Each time he looked up, his expression grew more incredulous.

"Let me see if I got this right, because it's early, the coffee maker is broken, and I need something to blame if I'm off on this. The C.I. who was working for you for a time, Benjamin Jones, is willing to turn himself in to the FBI to negotiate a deal that will require him to work under your charge, in exchange for record expungement. Am I on the right track?"

Special Agent Justine Diaz held up a finger. "Specifically, immunity for his daughter as well as having his record expunged, but yes."

Tucker shoved the paper over to the side of his desk. "Justine, didn't we go down this route with Jones before? He ran when you went after his child and Margot Bishop, violating the terms of his deal you made with him several months ago."

"Sir, I understand what you're saying, but you have to see the good he did while working with me. He uncovered a diamond smuggling ring headed by the son of the Chinese Consul, helped take down a gun smuggling ring headed by my soon-to-be ex-husband, sealed up the FBI database breach, prevented money laundering and thefts here in Los Angeles -"

"All while working with Margot Bishop, the head of the Kensington Firm. Excuse me … _former head,_ who is suspected of helping her mother, Sybil Griffiths, the _former_ former head of the Kensington Firm, escape from federal custody."

Diaz shook her head. "Ben's only association with Bishop is the daughter they share, a child both of them only became aware of well after he had turned on Sybil Griffiths and was accepted into our program. I have signed depositions from Alice Vaughn and several others stating that Jones had no knowledge of Bishop's activities as she had no knowledge of his, and contact was only made as a result of the child's arrival."

Tucker sat back in his chair, still not convinced. Diaz sat forward, pressing the issue. "In the events leading up to Jones and Bishop's disappearance, we learned that Rhys Griffiths, her younger brother, conspired on his own to not only use information we had gathered on cases closed by my operation to further his own gains, but to also seize control of the Kensington Firm. Jones had nothing to do with it. But he wants to help to bring Rhys down. Bring him down, and the Kensington Firm goes with him."

Tucker looked at her for several seconds before sliding the document back in front of him with his right forefinger. He tapped on it twice before sighing.

"Against my better judgment, I will authorize this. Benjamin Jones is reinstated back into your operation as a criminal informant under the parameters of your original agreement, with only the timeframe of it needing to be adjusted, and the immunity agreement for his daughter put in place."

Diaz exhaled in relief. "Thank you, sir."

"Don't thank me yet. I'm putting my neck on the line for this to happen because I see that you believe this guy is one of the good ones. But a lot took place under your watch and either you were ignorant, or this Rhys Griffiths is truly that good. Because of the cases you were able to close, I chose to believe the latter, but there are those who see it otherwise."

He rose from his seat and walked around the desk to sit on its edge to face Diaz. "Keep Jones on a tight leash, Diaz. As tight as you can make it. Because if he goes rogue again, then you can kiss your FBI career goodbye."

#

Alice Vaughn sat on a bench outside of the FBI's offices. She watched the passersby enter and exit the building as she sipped on her second cup of coffee in a hour, tapping her foot nervously on the concrete.

She looked at her watch and briefly considered purchasing a third cup from the barista cart nearby when the doors parted open and Special Agent Diaz exited the FBI building. She glanced around the front until she saw Alice and walked over to where she was sitting.

Alice noted the grim look in Diaz's face as she grew closer, and her heart fell. "Your boss didn't go for it."

Diaz sat down beside her. "Oh, he went for it. Benjamin Jones has been reinstated as my C.I., and Tessa has immunity."

The ache in Alice's chest turned to sudden joy. "He is? That's great news!"

Diaz held up a hand to forestall further comment. "For a second, I had wished it wasn't accepted. When it comes to you and his family, Ben isn't objective at all."

Alice nodded. "I know. Look what he did for me. It's why I love him."

Diaz turned to Alice. "I'm not going to ask if you have a way to contact him because I'd have to arrest you for obstruction. That's paperwork I really don't need right now. So when he contacts _you,_ have him call me, okay?"

"I will."

Diaz rose and started to walk off, but stopped to turn back to Alice. "I truly believe Ben had nothing to do with Rhys' betrayal. I really do. And I think it hurt him."

"It did."

Diaz nodded. "In any case, stress on him that my career is on the line this time. I hope when you tell him that, that objectivity you fell in love with will kick in once again."

Alice watched Diaz's departure, considering her words.

#

A bus pulled up to the station and came to a complete halt. The door opened, allowing one male passenger to disembark. The baseball cap and sunglasses concealed most of his face as he slung the backpack he carried over one shoulder while adjusting the straps of the carryall in his hand. He looked from left to right, and left again as if preparing to cross a busy street.

He went to the right, opposite of a police car parked along the street running alongside the bus station. A newsstand several feet away served as a staging ground to discreetly observe the policeman leaning against his vehicle while he purchased a drink, before proceeding to the other side of the bus station.

The car he was looking for was where he was told it would be. He forced himself not to break into a full on jog once he rounded the corner. He closed on the dark colored SUV and opened the back passenger door.

A beautiful young woman peered at him from the back seat, her hands crossed and in her lap. She smiled and waved him in.

"Welcome back, Michael Thorne. Or is it Benjamin Jones today? I keep forgetting."

Benjamin Jones smiled.

"It's good to be back, Princess Zara."

#

Sophie and the Hammer stepped off the elevator onto the main floor of Anderson and Vaughn Investigations. Several people milled about outside the reception area as they approached. The receptionist began to answer a phone call, but found a quick second to give Sophie a smile and wave.

Sophie returned the greeting as they walked past into the office area. She glanced at the Hammer who trailed behind her. "You know, I'm still trying to figure out exactly why you took a job as part of the security team. I thought international assassinating was appealing."

The Hammer shrugged. "It had a certain appeal. The travel, the planning, the execution of the plan -"

"The execution," murmured Sophie, as she stopped in the break area for a cup of coffee.

"But the work we did to find out who was trying to kill Margot Bishop, it was … different." He stopped beside Sophie and leaned against the counter. "And plus the work that was done to find and capture me ... extraordinary. I decided that I needed to broaden my horizons, and learn from the best."

Sophie finished making her coffee and turned to him. "Well, thank you for the ride. I appreciate it."

"You're quite welcome." The Hammer gave a perfunctory bow before turning to head for the security wing as Sophie made her way to her desk, covered with a gathering of flowers and small presents. Valerie Anderson and Danny Yoon stood beside it, smiling as she approached.

"Welcome back," said Valerie, walking over and giving Sophie a hug. "How are you feeling?"

Sophie returned the embrace. "I feel great. Ready to get back to work."

"That's what I like to hear, but I want you to settle in first and come talk to me in a few minutes. When Alice gets back, we'll know where we stand."

Valerie turned and walked to her office. Sophie set her mug down and turned to Danny. "And what does she mean?"

Danny shrugged. "Alice has been talking to the FBI for a few weeks now to try and get Ben's C.I. deal reinstated. If that works, then we can go after Rhys."

Sophie sat down at her desk and pulled a card from one vase of flowers. "So I see nothing has changed."

"Plenty has changed." Danny pulled a chair from a nearby desk and sat down beside hers. "Business has been great for the past couple of weeks. We got Seth Hamilton back on board, Ethan Ward has sent business our way -"

"I'm talking about all this business concerning Ben, and you know it." Sophie turned in her chair to face Danny. "Ever since he has come into our lives, it has been one headache or another. Valerie and Alice nearly lost the firm because of him. We lost a lot of clients. Alice was nearly arrested."

She turned back from him, clearly agitated. Danny sighed and reached over to lay a hand on top of hers. "Is it because you were shot, or because of me and Margot?"

Sophie looked into his eyes. "I would be lying if I said those things also didn't play a factor in how I'm feeling now. I have a two-inch scar on my stomach to serve as a constant reminder."

She sighed and gently pulled her hand away. "I love working here, but maybe my parents were right. Maybe I was meant for something more."

Danny watched her rise to her feet and grabbed her mug to walk to Valerie's office. "What do you mean, Soph?"

She looked over at him.

"It means I'm done."

#

"Thank you for taking care of my medical expenses, and also helping out my parents. We appreciated everything you and Alice did."

The two women sat on the white leather couch in Valerie's office. Valerie reached over to squeeze Sophie's hand. "You were placed in a very unnecessary and harmful position that could have been avoided, Sophie. Alice and I were so torn up about everything."

"Well, I do appreciate everything you two have done." Sophie took a sip of her coffee and set it on the small table beside her. "Which makes what I'm about to say that much more difficult."

Valerie slowly pulled back in surprise. She began to speak when the door opened and Alice entered the office. "Sophie! Welcome back!"

Sophie rose to accept Alice's embrace. "Thank you, Alice. I'm glad that you're here. I have something I need to tell both of you."

Alice looked from Sophie to Valerie and saw the concern on her partner's face. "Oh no, Sophie," she whispered.

"I … I feel that I can be of much more use at a law firm, or some other profession. I don't belong here with you guys."

Alice dropped her purse on the floor and gestured for Sophie to reclaim her seat beside Val. Once she had done so, she sat down in a separate chair in front of them. "Sophie, I know I have asked so much of you and Danny and Val to help me when it came to Ben. I'm sorry that you all had to be involved in any way, shape or form."

She sighed. "But I draw the line when any of you are put in harm's way. If it wasn't for everything that had happened, you would have never been in that hotel room. If it wasn't for the fact that I have to ask everyone to help me one last time, I would fight to keep you with us. But … I can't guarantee that there isn't another crazy Felicity out there. I just can't."

Valerie leaned forward. "Did Agent Diaz get Ben reinstated?"

"She did. I'm waiting on Ben to call me so I can tell him to call her before he does something stupid." Alice looked back over at Sophie.

"The last thing I want to do is place you in harm's way again, Sophie, so if you feel you want to leave, Valerie and I won't stop you. I can place a call with Ethan or Seth to see if they have any openings."

Valerie nodded. "And I can reach out to Gordon. You definitely have options, but you will be missed. And hard to replace. You are one of a kind."

Sophie looked at her employers' faces and sighed. "I said to Danny a few minutes ago that since Ben came into our lives, it has been one thing after another. He has indirectly taken this firm down to its knees one way or another.

"But you said you need our help one last time. It would be wrong for me to leave you guys in a jam after all that you've done for me."

Valerie shook her head. "Don't even think you owe us. If anything, we owe _you_ for talking your parents into not suing us."

Alice nodded. "With Ben being reinstated under his FBI deal, we can go after Rhys in a way that he will never see coming. But do that, to _truly_ finish this, it will take all of us. Me, Ben, Danny, Valerie … and you. If you're on board."

Sophie's hand automatically reached for the spot of her scar where Felicity's bullet pierced her abdomen. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, noting for the first time that she felt no pain from the wound and subsequent surgery. She opened her eyes and gave the ladies a single nod and small smile.

"One more for the road."

#


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Well? Did I get your size right?"

Princess Zara Al-Salim poured herself a cup of tea as she sat down at the circular glass table in her spacious hotel room. She took a sip before calling out, "If nothing fits, the hotel has a tailor downstairs."

The double doors to the guest bedroom opened, and Ben exited, sliding into a dark blue blazer over matching trousers, and a crisp, button down shirt. "Everything fits perfectly. How did you know?"

The princess smiled. "I have several brothers. They sometimes like to shop as well. You remember Bashir? Once upon a time, he bought a suit for every day of the month of his birthday. You two are about the same size."

She gestured to a seat at the table. "Now, I think it's time that we have that conversation you promised me."

Ben nodded, moving over to pull the chair out to sit down. "I'll answer any question that you have, Your Highness."

"Zara. For the sake of time, call me Zara. I believe we're past formalities at this point. I did help smuggle you into town."

"Of course."

The princess's tone grew serious. "When I arrived in the city, you and your accomplices had already set your plan in motion to deceive me. Correct?"

Ben was hesitant at first. He sighed and locked eyes with her. "I initially wasn't involved at first. I was suppose to fly out of LAX earlier that day, but a FBI agent who has been looking for me for years was in town tracking my movements, so I was forced to stay."

Princess Zara nodded. "Okay. How did you do it?"

Ben gestured to the tea kettle. She nodded and he poured himself a cup. "Would you believe that you actually weren't the mark?"

"Really? Who?"

"The plan was to con your guardian, Qasim. He was the head of your father's business empire, so it made perfect sense."

The princess held up a hand. "Two questions: the evidence procured showing Qasim's embezzlement crimes. Was that fabricated?"

Ben shook his head. "No. He truly was taking your family for several million dollars every time a deal was made."

The princess leaned close. "And where is he? He never made it to Kuroq. My brothers are still searching for him to answer for the crimes he committed."

Ben looked away, unsure of how to answer the question. The princess noted his silence and closed her eyes. "Please tell me you didn't kill him."

"No." Ben shook his head again, this time more adamantly. "Zara, I swear to you that I didn't kill him. _He_ was trying to kill me."

She opened her eyes. "But he's dead."

Ben nodded solemnly.

The princess sat back in her seat, drumming her fingers on the table. Ben said, "If you are beginning to have any doubts about me so far, I will leave right now and you'll never have to see me again."

"Doubts? No." Princess Zara smiled. "I was just thinking that for us to continue this conversation, we need something stronger than tea."

#

Danny pulled several documents he had printed from the tray. While he made his way back to his desk, he received a text message on his phone in his back pocket.

He pulled it and reviewed the text while setting the papers on his desk. The words on the screen were simplistic and common.

The sender was not.

#

Alice sat at her desk, typing up an email on her laptop when Valerie entered. "We have visitors," she said, pulling the curtain open.

Alice looked past Val at the reception area. A muscular, bald African-American wearing a tailored suit and tie stood next to a young, fit Caucasian wearing the uniform of a deliveryman. "I know him," she breathed, reaching into her purse. "He worked with Ben."

Her hand gripped a pistol. "And Rhys."

"Woah. Calm down, Annie Oakley." Valerie held up her hands. "Mr. Olympia said Ben sent them to help."

"Really?" Alice lowered the pistol but did not put it back in her purse. "Is Ben here in town?"

"They don't know. The last thing Ben told him was to find that kid standing beside him."

Alice nodded slowly and put her weapon back in her purse, and then reached for her desk phone. "Okay. We'll talk to them, but not alone."

"Who are you calling?"

Alice smiled. "Shawn? Could you send _the Hammer_ to the conference room, please?"

#

"When Ben called me asking for my help, I couldn't say no." Reggie Lennox leaned back in his chair at the conference room table. "I felt bad turning on him in favor of Margot and Sybil."

Alice glared angrily across the table at him. "You should. Sybil was planning to kill him no matter what he did."

"I know! I wouldn't have let it get that far, but that family is sick. All of them!" Reggie glanced nervously over his shoulder. "But Ben still trusts me. I think I can help out quite a bit, so could you rein in your pitbull, please?"

Alice continued to stare at him in silence. Valerie leaned forward and looked up behind Reggie. "It's okay. I think Mr. Lennox will behave himself."

The Hammer slowly lowered his pistol which was aimed at Reggie. He breathed a sigh of relief and nodded his thanks to Valerie. "I appreciate that. I owe you one."

"Oh, you owe me two," said Val. "Alice here wanted to shoot you even before you stepped foot in the conference room."

Reggie's eyes diverted over to Alice, who returned an icy look. "In the interest of getting my fiancé freed and putting Rhys where he belongs, I can let bygones be bygones.

"But make no mistake. You slip up and turn on him again, and there isn't a place on Earth where you can hide from me. Understood?"

Reggie nodded. Alice stared at him for several seconds more until finally turning to the young man sitting beside him. "So. You're the human hard drive I heard so much about."

The young man nodded. "My name is Troy, Miss Vaughn. It's nice to meet you."

Alice smiled. "Has Ben told either one of you when he's coming into town?"

"Only that he's using contacts that Rhys wouldn't have any knowledge of." Reggie shrugged. "That could also mean old marks he and Margot staked out when we were all working alone."

Alice considered this. "We'll give him some time to make contact. I just don't want him to make any moves without us."

"Wait. Hold on." Reggie sat up in his chair quickly. "What do you mean _us?"_

Alice rose to her feet. "It means exactly that. Rhys jeopardized a lot by doing what he did. He let greed and power destroy Ben's FBI deal when Ben was trying to get out of a life of crime. He jeopardized my future with Ben.

"So _we_ are going to make sure that Rhys answers for everything. Help us, and you walk scot free."

Reggie sat back and whistled.

"Now I know why ol' Ben loves you, Little Miss Red."

Alice smiled.

#

Tessa Riley opened the door slightly to peer into the room. "It seems that we managed to have quite an impressive turnout for our meeting today."

Margot Bishop nodded, checking her pistol one last time before placing it in her purse. "Indeed, darling. It took a of money to find out all the people Rhys has managed to piss off in the past two months. These are the people I trust who won't tell him we're back in town."

Tessa closed the door and made her way over to a worn leather couch. "And how did you come by these offices? This is a step up from the slumming that we had to go through."

Margot looked over the office, a wry, reminiscent smile forming. "This office was basically where everything started between your father and stepmother-to-be. When he was Christopher Hall."

She looked over her shoulder at the six menacing bodyguards standing behind to the side lining the windows. "Is everything in order, Wallace?"

The tallest of the men, a stocky Brit with his silver hair pulled into a small bun on top of his head, nodded. "The perimeter is secure. We're a go."

Margot smiled. "Excellent. Please make sure you do not leave my daughter's side."

"Mum! I can take care of myself!"

Margot's eyes locked on with Wallace's. "Stay with her."

She walked past Tessa and opened the door. Seven men sitting at a makeshift table in the center turned their heads as one at her entrance. A few other stood off to the side at another table drinking coffee. She smiled and approached the head of the table, careful to record each face so as to gather a record for any action, or reaction.

"Good morning, gentlemen," she said, placing her purse carefully on the table. "I thank you for meeting with me today."

The eldest of the men, a light-skinned man garner in an impressive tailor suit, laughed. "Margot, you have a lot of nerve calling the leaders of some of the biggest crime families in the city here. If it wasn't for the fact that we all have a mutual beef with your brother, this day would not end well."

Margot nodded, recalling Aldrick Shive indeed has a legitimate beef with the Kensington Firm for the death of his brother, Mickey, and the apprehension of Emeric, his father.

"Your participation here today is one I would need the most, Aldrick. I assure you that we all stand to gain something if we bring Rhys down, but it will only work if we cooperate with each other."

A balding man with considerable girth leaned forward in his chair. "And what do we get in return for our help?"

Margot placed the palms of her hands on the table.

"You will all get a piece of stock in the Kensington Firm."

#

Princess Zara finished the last of her bourbon and set her empty glass on the table. "Well, I have to say that I am impressed. You ran a year-long con against a woman who fell in love with your facade, you get engaged, she finds you out, chases you down, falls in love with you _again,_ except this time the _real_ you, and now you two are engaged. Again."

Ben nodded. "The story isn't all glamour. Alice and I had our issues. But she believes in me."

"And you came back, risking capture to take down the man who betrayed you, all so that you can be with her?"

Ben rose from his seat and walked over to the window to look out over the city. "Rhys did a lot of damage. He hurt me. He destroyed my deal with the FBI. He almost got my daughter killed."

He turned around to look back at the princess. "I owe him."

Princess Zara smiled and slapped the table with her hand. "It's settled then. I will help you."

"Your Highness, I can't ask you to help me any more than you have already."

"Oh, but you didn't ask. I am _volunteering._ And you want to know why?"

"Why?"

"Because even after everything you've done, you were the only one who ever treated me with respect. You and your cohorts had this elaborate plan to do wrong, and yet you showed me that there is more to this world than just being a princess. You taught me to seize my independence. That's why I decided to come back to take classes at UCLA."

Ben silently applauded. "How did Bashir take that news?"

"Oh, he wasn't happy about it at first. Remember, I told you that he's old-fashioned. Set in the old ways. But he relented."

Ben smiled. "Well, I'm glad some good came out of this."

The princess reached into her purse on the table and pulled out a phone. "Here. Call your Alice. Tell her you're here. I'll be in my bedroom."

Ben walked over and accepted the device. He looked down at it and then back at her.

"Thank you, Your Highness."

She laughed. "What did I tell you earlier? It's Zara." She squeezed his hand. "Call Alice."

She turned and headed for her bedroom. Ben waited until the doors closed before dialing Alice's number. He kept himself occupied for a minute after announcing himself to Robin, AVI's receptionist by admiring the uniquely shaped building across the street.

The phone clicked on the other end. "It's about time. I was getting worried."

"Well, I had to keep a promise to a friend."

"A friend? You still have those?"

"I like to think so." He paused. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too. Where are you?"

He looked outside again.

"Closer than you think."

#

Princess Zara stood beside Ben outside across the street from her hotel. She looked at the building before her and frowned.

"I had a feeling there was a reason why you chose this hotel instead of the Weatherby. You do love to live dangerously."

Ben smiled, taking in the sight of the AVI building. He started to say something when he saw the front doors and Alice stepped outside. She anxiously looked around until she finally saw him standing at the bottom of the steps. She gave him a wave as she began her descent.

The princess leaned in close. "I'm still upset that I had already met her and didn't even know it," she said, pushing him in the small of his back. "Get going."

Ben obeyed, quickly making his way up the steps, meeting Alice halfway. They stood looking at each for several seconds before falling into each other's arms.

#

Ben stood at the end of the table in the conference room. Almost every chair was filled with the exception of the Hammer's. He stood behind his chair with arms crossed, eyeing each occupant with an unerring stare.

Ben looked over the table: Danny and Sophie sat next to Valerie at his right. The smile Val gave him was genuine, but Sophie stared down at her hands steepled in front of her on the table, not acknowledging his presence. He made a mental note to ask Alice about her later.

Across from Danny sat Reggie and Troy, the former who glanced over at the Hammer almost every minute. Princess Zara occupied the chair next to Alice. She smiled up at Ben and gave him a small nod.

"Before we start, I would like to introduce to you Her Royal Highness of the nation of Kuroq, Princess Zara Al-Salim. Her Highness was kind enough to assist in getting me into the city unnoticed."

"Wasn't she a mark?" asked Sophie. Alice shot her an admonishing look.

"The princess and I have resolved any differences we might have had before coming here. She's with us."

Ben reached for the tablet on the table and keyed in a command. "Alice and Valerie normally would be leading the brief on a client or suspect, but because I know him best, they were kind enough to oblige me."

He stepped out of the way and looked behind him at the image of Rhys displayed on the monitor. He felt a flash of anger within as he stared at the picture of a person he once called friend.

A brother.

He took a deep breath, regaining his composure. "The target is Rhys Spencer Griffiths. He is the younger brother of Margot Bishop, and … uncle to my daughter, Tessa. He and I have worked together for more than fifteen years, most of which as a part of the Kensington Firm, and a few months working undercover as criminal informants for the FBI … until he betrayed me by using information collected during cases that we closed together, and somehow obtaining those resources for his own gains. His efforts led to him taking over the firm."

He set the tablet down. "We all have had some sort of interaction with Rhys one way or another, with the exception of Her Highness, who was part of a con that Margot, Reggie, and I were a part of before Rhys arrived in the country. And he is infatuated with Troy."

All heads turned to Troy. He simply shrugged.

"Rhys can be ruthless if pushed," said Alice. "He will not hesitate to kill if the situation calls for it. He is very intelligent. He cannot be underestimated."

"To take down someone like Rhys without him knowing will require ingenuity, finesse, and ruthlessness. It may take you to a dark place." Ben sat down at the table and eyed each one of its occupants in turn one by one. "That's why I prefer that everyone goes into this willingly. But if anyone of you feel you cannot do this, or have doubts of any kind, if you want to step away, I will understand."

Princess Zara smiled. "Well, I've already volunteered my help. I'm not backing away now."

Ben returned the smile briefly before turning to Alice and Valerie. "You know how I feel about asking any of you to help."

Alice looked over at Val, Sophie, and Danny. "I trust you three with my life. _I_ don't have any right to ask you to help with this. But I … _we_ can't do this without you."

Danny nodded enthusiastically, while Valerie simply smiled and squeezed her hand. Sophie continued to look down at her hands in front of her.

"Soph?"

Sophie slowly looked up and over to Alice.

"You already know how I feel."

Alice nodded back and turned back to Ben. "We're in."

Ben smiled and looked down at Reggie and Troy. "Troy, you're vital to this, but I'll understand if you want to back out."

Troy shook his head. "No, sir. I'm disappointed Rhys turned like that."

"And you and I already talked, so I'm in," added Reggie.

Ben regarded the Hammer, who stood silent throughout the entire proceedings. "I'm going to assume you're with us as well."

The Hammer smirked.

Danny raised a hand. "Is Margot going to be involved in this?"

Alice covered her eyes with her hand. "It's a … valid question," he whispered.

"Margot is working on something totally separate to distract Rhys," said Ben. "It's best that she stays completely out of this, in part because Agent Diaz has no immunity deal set up for her. But yes, she will be involved."

Danny's face lit up.

Ben leaned forward in his chair. "This will be the mother of all cons. Let's get to work."

 _We'll take all the information that Tommy, Alice's younger brother, turned over to Agent Diaz. Everything he gave up, we'll turn over to Troy. Troy already has information on Argosy, the gunrunning organization formerly headed by her husband. He'll identify the likely spots Rhys will have set up shop. We'll assume the Weatherby is out. It's still a front for the firm, but he won't be staying out in the open like that._

 _While Troy is absorbing all of this information, AVI will backstop a new ID for the princess. New social, web presence, back history. We need to turn her into a brand-new person. Someone that will attract a person of Rhys' taste and interest._

 _Reggie, on the other hand, will remain who he is. A former member of the Kensington Firm, down on his luck, pulling small scale jobs, but large enough to catch Rhys' eye as well._

 _While we're setting up on our end, Margot should have rallied the heads of the major crime families in town. The Shives, the Spectors, the Gundersons, and a few others. Their job is to cause as many problems as they can for Rhys, so that by the time he sees us coming, it will be too late._

#

"You didn't give me a task."

Ben looked up from his tablet at Alice standing in the office door. "I did. AVI is setting up a new ID for the princess."

"Oh, you gave AVI a job, meaning Danny, Val, and Soph." Alice stepped inside and slid down into the couch beside Ben. "I was talking about _me."_

Ben pursed his lips. "I want you as far from this as possible … but I might as well be talking to water."

"About time you realized that."

Ben placed the tablet on the couch beside him. "All right. When the time is right, this is what I want you to do."

 _#_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

" _Bloody Hell!"_

Rhys Griffiths hurled his cell phone against the far wall of his newly decorated office. The device shattered against the bricks, raining down in pieces onto the hardwood floor. "Just bloody hell! Who do I have to kill to have a decent level of competence around here!?"

The man standing in front of his ornate oak desk fidgeted nervously, careful not to look at him directly. Rhys glared at him for a moment before turning to the credenza behind him and poured bourbon in a glass.

"Every time I've tried to solidify my interests here in this wretched city, something always falls apart!" He swallowed his drink in one gulp and slammed the glass on the credenza surface. "We are being targeted! Over half a dozen trucks seized!"

He turned around and pointed at the man. "At that warehouse, you managed to _not_ be in that upstairs office with me and my former associates trying to kill us, or downstairs when Eddie Diaz was busted. There has to be a secret stash I don't know about that we can use to make up our losses!"

Before the man could answer, a knock rang on the office door. "What?!" exclaimed Rhys.

The door opened, and Rhys' eyes widened in surprise at the new entrants. He slowly walked around his desk, rubbing his hands in glee. "Troy! I have to say you are a sight for sore eyes!"

He turned a perplexed eye to his companion. "Who is your friend?"

Reggie gave an exasperated sigh. "How many times do I have to tell you? You know me! I've worked with you, I've worked with Ben, I've worked with your sister!"

Rhys snorted as he sat down on a long, leather couch along the wall underneath stained glass windows. "And last I remembered, you also worked with my mother _against_ Ben. It's a wonder you managed to escape the cops at Virginia Foster's house that night."

He turned his eye to the man standing in front of his desk and snapped his fingers. " _Oí!_ Sweep that phone up and tell Jasmine outside to get me a new one. Chop chop!"

As the henchman rushed to comply, Rhys waved Troy and Reggie over to chairs close by the couch. "Troy, are you still fit? Would you like a snack?"

Troy shook his head. "No, thank you."

"Well, you let me know if I can get you _anything_ you want. Such a polite young man." The smile on Rhys' features faded from sight as he turned to Reggie.

"Still wondering what brought you scurrying up to my doorstep like a well dressed, muscle bound rat."

"Will you shut up? Listen, I wasn't even trying to find you or anyone in the firm, but this guy here found _me._ He told me what you and Ben were getting into with the FBI." Reggie leaned forward in his chair, staring hard at Rhys.

"I want in."

Rhys laughed, gesturing widely at the office. "You are obviously off of your rocker. Does this look like I'm working with the FBI here?"

"If I remember correctly, and I usually do, this is the alternate headquarters for Argosy," said Troy. "They have seven spread throughout Los Angeles."

"Seven?" Rhys raised a quizzical eyebrow. " _I_ have _seven?"_

"Including a freight carrier down at the port."

Rhys slowly covered his mouth.

"A - a _freight carrier?_ "

#

Ben poured coffee into a white mug in the AVI break area. "By now, Reggie and Troy should have found Rhys' new location and told him about the shipping carrier," he said, setting the coffee pot down and sliding the mug over to Agent Diaz.

Diaz briefly glanced down at the mug. "And I suppose that we already have one that will check out and escape Rhys' observing eye."

Ben shrugged. "It's being worked on. I hope you plan on giving this some time to develop so we can see exactly how deep Rhys's hands are in the cookie jar."

"The bureau is giving you some leeway to work on this."

Ben nodded in satisfaction. "In the meantime, we need a place to work out of. Someplace where Rhys won't think of looking."

"I have a friend looking into that." She finally picked up the mug and took a sip of her beverage. "But I do need to talk to you about something."

"Oh? What's that?"

"You and your daughter. I stuck my neck out for you not only to get your deal reinstated, but to have your daughter included as well. The bureau will accept no less than the head of the Kensington Firm, or else you two will have to serve as suitable substitutes."

Ben nodded. "I know you were disappointed with how everything turned out. Believe me, I feel the same way. But my sole focus is getting to Rhys and bringing his house down on top of him. You have my word."

Ben caught the grimace Diaz attempted to hide her frown behind her coffee mug. "What?"

Diaz sighed and set her mug down on the counter. "Ben, underneath this suave exterior is a man who was betrayed by someone who is not only your daughter's uncle, but someone who you once considered a friend. A brother."

She reached up and squeezed his arm. "I hope when it comes down to it, you're not going to pull some trick like you did that day at Alice Vaughn's house, because I expect your full cooperation."

"You have it, Agent Diaz."

She shook her head. "I am serious, Jones. My entire career is on the line this time. You steer off the road on this, and I will make sure you and your daughter will never see the outside again."

Diaz held Ben's gaze for several seconds before she turned and made her way to the AVI elevators. He watched her departure with trepidation, knowing deep down exactly what she meant.

#

"Right now, the carrier is out to sea. It was due back here almost two months ago." Troy set the dry erase marker down and turned back to Rhys and Reggie. "Before the … transfer of power, former Special Agent Edgar Diaz commissioned it to transport weapons to and from South America several times a year."

Rhys sipped on a martini as he looked over the various notes Troy scribbled on the board. "On this last trip, was he bringing guns in or out of the city?"

"In. Various makes and models of tactical weapons used by special military assault groups and police units, plus over six million in cash."

Rhys whistled. "And does he have someone in charge of the carrier?"

"Yes. A woman by the name of Sarah El-Alim. She inherited it from her father."

"And why didn't she bring the carrier back when I took over?"

Reggie snorted. "Probably because she has huge trust issues. Considering the current leadership, I can't say I blame her _."_

Rhys turned to him. "When are you going to let bygones be bygones and have a micron of faith in me?"

"I don't know. What's my name?"

Rhys started to respond but stopped with a look of puzzlement. Reggie sighed.

Rhys turned back to Troy. "Is there a way to contact her?"

Troy nodded. "She has offices here in the city."

#

 _Princess Zara will pose as Sarah El-Ackbar, the owner of a shipping carrier currently out to sea. By now Troy should be laying it on thick with Rhys about it, and her._

 _But I've worked with Rhys for more than fifteen years. He's not going to jump for it just yet. He'll need a little bit of chaos in his life to push him over the edge._

 _And that's where Margot comes in._

 _#_

"Seven trucks packed with drugs hijacked, fifty associates arrested, and nearly five million in cash seized." Margot spun her laptop around on her desk to Alrick Shive so he could see the screen. "I must say, very impressive first day of events. My brother must be beside himself."

Shive shrugged, not even glancing at the computer. "I'm glad that you're impressed, even though I could care less."

Margot glanced over at Tessa, who stood watching the exchange by the window. Her daughter remarkably remained silent. "It seems that something is on your mind, Aldrick. Don't be shy. Spit it out."

"Very well." Shive leaned forward in his chair. "You promised a piece of the firm to the major families in the city. I don't really care for that. I want something more."

Margot rolled her eyes. "And what else is it that I can possibly give you? The Crown jewels? The Shroud of Turin? Change in election results?"

"Your brother."

The casual answer to her question put Margot to pause. She quickly recovered. "What do you mean?"

Shive tapped the desk with his right forefinger as if punching a single typewriter key repeatedly. "I know he killed Mickey several months ago. I read the police report. Ballistics matched a similar case Interpol was working."

He rose from his seat and walked around to the side of Margot's desk, resting on its edge as he look down at Margot. "I want your word that when this is finished, Rhys is mine to do with as I please. That you will not interfere."

Margot gave the man an impassive look.

"Do what you feel is necessary."

A slow smile formed on Shive's face. He straightened and buttoned his tailor-made jacket. "I'll be in touch." Nodding once to Tessa, he turned and exited the office.

Once the double doors closed behind him, Tessa hurried over to her mother's side. "Are you crazy, Mum?! You can't let him kill Uncle Rhys!"

Margot turned her chair to face her. "Your newfound loyalty to the family is refreshing, Tessa. It's also somewhat misplaced."

"Of course my loyalty is to my family. That means you, Daddy, and even Uncle Rhys." Tessa sighed. "He betrayed us, but it's just like when you betrayed him, when Dad turned on you and Grandmama, and vice versa."

Margot gave a come-on gesture. "I'm sure a point is forthcoming."

Tessa smiled. "My point is this. If Alice Vaughn can bring herself to forgive the man who almost destroyed her and her firm, to _love_ him again, we can bring ourselves to forgive as well."

"And does that mean we let him go Scot free for said betrayals?"

Tessa sharply shook her head. "I said forgive. I didn't say just slap him on the bum and take away his dinner."

A corner of Margot's mouth turned upward as she regarded her daughter, who responded in kind. "You are walking a fine line between becoming like me and turning into your father," she said as she reached across her desk for her laptop and closed the device before rising to her feet.

"I think it's about time we go see him."

#

Ben looked around the small enclosed office area with satisfaction before turning to his host. "This will work. Though I didn't expect you to fly all the way from D.C. to set this up."

Agent Jules Dao smiled. "When Special Agent Diaz said what you had planned to take down Rhys Griffiths, I submitted a request to assist, based on our … long history. Only a few blocks from AVI and your hotel, but with the underground parking under FBI control, you can move about freely without being visible on the street."

"Well, I appreciate all the help I can get." Ben sat down at the fold out table and opened the laptop he had borrowed from AVI. "Alice and her people have finished developing Her Highness' new ID. Now all we need is that carrier, and we're set."

"And that is where we may have a problem." Dao sat down across from Ben. We have the inventory you requested on loan from the FBI, but no boat to put them on."

"Yes, we do." Valerie entered the office. "The princess just got a phone call from her brother, Bashir. Several ships from the royal family's fleet are moored in Seattle. He's having one sailed here and it should be here by tomorrow evening."

Ben and Dao looked at each other and then back at the princess. "How did she pull that off?" asked Ben.

Valerie waved the question away. "Never question the abilities of a woman when she wants something that is damn near impossible to get," she said, gracing Dao with a sly smile. "Agent Dao."

Dao grinned back. "Ms. Anderson."

Valerie started to say something but realized Ben was sitting there watching them both with rapt interest. She feigned a cough. "Ahem. Alice needs to see you at AVI."

Ben rose to his feet. "I'm on my way." He started for the door but turned back to Dao.

"It would be best if you and Agent Diaz stay scarce from AVI for the time being. If Rhys has eyes on the building and sees you two, he'll know something's up."

"Understood. If and _when_ we need to see you, we'll meet here to compare notes."

Ben nodded. He looked over at Val and gave her a quick wink before exiting the office. She laughed before turning her attention to Dao.

"You didn't call to tell me you were in town. I had to find out from Ben."

Dao rose from his seat. "I was going to surprise you. I just didn't know how."

Valerie slowly walked up and wrapped her arms around Dao's neck.

"Consider me surprised."

#

Ben stepped off the elevators onto AVI's floor. With the lateness of the hour, the reception area and office bay was empty and dark, saved Alice's office at the far end, and the conference room beside Valerie's office.

He approached the open door and was pleasantly surprised to see Tessa and Margot sitting at the table with Alice. The older ladies conversed over bourbon. Tessa sipped on some water while eyeing the bourbon bottle.

"This is a picture I didn't think I would see again for a very long time," he declared.

The women turned at the sound of his voice. Tessa smiled and rose from her chair, walking over to Ben and raised up on her toes. "Hello, Daddy," she said, giving him a peck on his cheek.

Ben gave her shoulder a quick squeeze and a small smile, but his eyes were on Margot. "I thought we weren't going to meet up for a couple of days."

Margot nodded. "It seems we ran into a complication. One that I thought we should discuss as a family."

Alice drained her glass and got up to her feet. "Where are you going?" asked Margot.

"I need to send some emails out to a client, so feel free to use the conference room."

"Wait." Margot held up a hand. "When I said there's something we need to discuss as a family, that … includes _you_ as well."

Alice gave Margot a quizzical look as she slowly pointed at herself. " _Me?_ Family?"

"Well, you _are_ the stepmommy."

Alice quickly pointed at Tessa before she could reply. "Don't start," she said.

Margot continued, somewhat grudgingly. "In any case … after all you have been through, and everything we have had to endure, I feel that you have earned a place at the table for discussions concerning our family."

Alice took a step back, unsure of how to reply. Ben took the opportunity to walk over and take her by the hand and guide her back to her seat. "What's this all about, Margot?"

"We ran into a complication," she said, gesturing for everyone to take a seat at the table. "Aldrick Shive doesn't want a piece of the firm."

Ben looked over at Alice who shrugged in puzzlement. "Alright. What does he want?"

"Only Uncle Rhys' head," Tessa replied dryly. "And Mum agreed."

Now Alice leaned forward in shock. "Look, I understand taking down Rhys from his high perch, but offer him up to the Shives? Is this because of Mickey Shive?"

Margot nodded.

Ben shook his head. "No. We're _not_ offering up Rhys to be killed."

"Oh, like he would not have done the same to us," said Margot as she reached for her bourbon.

"He wouldn't. Rhys may have a heartless attitude and a rebellious streak, but he wouldn't turn a gun on any of us. We're not about to do that to him. We have a plan. The plan is being executed. We stick to the plan. Rhys already made contact with the princess. He wants to meet."

Margot expelled a lungful of air in an exasperated sigh. "Oh! Like I would let someone like Aldrick Shive put a gun to my brother's head. The question is how do we prevent it without tipping our hand?"

"Have the Shives and the other families put a hurting on Rhys' business dealings?"

Tessa smiled. "It's more than a slap on the bum. A major kick in the ass."

Ben smiled.

"It's time the princess prepares to make her big debut."

#

Princess Zara stared at herself in the mirror in Alice's closet. "I must admit, Alice, you have an unique style all of your own. It sort of reminds me of … 'American Bandstand?' Is that the name of the show from the 1960's?"

Alice grinned as she leaned against the door frame. "You watched 'American Bandstand' in Kuroq?"

"When I saw this dress, that was the first thing I thought of."

The princess turned around to face Alice. She wore a black, long-sleeved mini dress with black leather calf-high boots. Her customary hair scarf was replaced by a single silver hairpin holding a lock of her dark hair in place. "What do you think?"

Alice nodded in approval. "I think you pulled it off better than I ever could."

Zara smiled. "I think I'm all set, then."

"We have a few minutes, so I would like to give you a quick rundown of tonight's events, if that's okay."

The princess followed Alice into her living room. Alice waited until she was comfortable on the couch before doing the same. "Agent Diaz will assign someone not known to Rhys as your driver. My people, Ben, Margot and their daughter, we all will instantly be recognized and can't be seen within a hundred feet of your meeting."

Zara smiled. "And here is the part where you tell me that you're not going to let that stop you."

"You need to stop hanging around Ben." Alice smiled as she reached for a bottle of bourbon and poured two glasses. "We will have an agent doing audio and visual surveillance not far from where you're meeting Rhys."

"Okay." She accepted the glass and quickly swallowed its contents in one gulp before Alice could even reach for hers.

"Nervous?"

The princess grinned. "It's that obvious?"

"Either you love bourbon, or you're nervous." Alice patted her hand. "You'll be fine. The main thing we need to do is get Rhys to that ship so we can take him down. We just have to make it a little hard for him."

"Meaning?"

Alice smiled as she poured more bourbon for the princess and finally reached for her glass. She held it out to her in a toast.

"Meaning we just _not_ going to give it to him."

#


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Danny peered through his binoculars down at Grant Park from the top of a hotel across the street. "I got eyes on," he said. "The princess is on site."

Val's voice crackled through the handheld radio perched on the edge of the rooftop. "Any suspicious Brit making his approach?"

"Negative. She's sitting alone by the bar per the instructions sent to her." Danny pulled the binoculars down to wipe the sweat from his forehead. "Where are you guys?"

"A block away. I have two agents I hired specifically for today pretending to do a news broadcast at the park, but they're sending a live feed to the van and AVI. We can't risk Rhys recognizing any of us, so Alice promised to stay put at the office, the Hammer is sitting about twenty feet from Zara with a parabolic microphone so we can listen in, and Ben is roaming the grounds."

Danny frowned as he checked his watch. Five o'clock, the time the meeting was to take place. "Why is Ben on site? Rhys is likely to recognize him more than anyone else."

"He promised he won't get made. I didn't get into it with him." Valerie paused. "Just keep a close eye on the princess and make sure she doesn't get like Liam Neeson taken."

"Copy that."

Danny trained his binoculars back onto the park. The princess continued to sit alone at a small stone table underneath an umbrella as she sipped on a beverage. He panned to the right and spotted the Hammer sitting on a bench not far away. The former assassin took in the afternoon passersby with a folded newspaper on his lap while cleaning his sunglasses with a small piece of cloth.

Danny watched as the Hammer made a show of examining his glasses before sliding them onto his face. Once he removed his hand, he suddenly tilted his head upwards, canted his head to the side and mimed firing a pistol at Danny twenty stories above street level.

Danny pulled the binoculars from his face, shaking his head. "He freaks me out."

#

Alice, Agents Diaz and Dao, and Tessa sat in the conference room watching on the monitor Princess Zara continue to sit alone. All four glanced nervously at each other as the timestamp displayed in the corner showed 5:10pm.

"Could we have been made?" Alice drummed her fingers on the table as she stared across at Dao. "I can't imagine Rhys being late for a meeting like this."

Dao shrugged. "I think we're okay. Griffiths isn't familiar with your new associates, and Valerie and the rest of AVI are nowhere in sight. He's more than likely using a cutout."

Tessa nodded. "That would have been the smart thing to do. Use a person no one would suspect. A teacher, or a college student. Someone who wouldn't draw attention to him or herself."

Dao glanced at Alice who shrugged. "What can I say? She's her father's daughter."

#

"Mind if I join you?"

Zara gave herself a mental three count before casually glancing at the time on her phone resting beside her drink. Instead of looking up, she reached for it and took another sip. "If you were serious about what's on my ship, you would have been on time."

A man with short, grayish blonde hair sat down across from her. Dressed in a navy blue tailor made suit, he glanced around the park before settling his eyes on Zara. "A man in my line of work can never be too careful," he said. His deep accent was not American.

Zara realized that the man before her was not the one Ben and his friends were pursuing. He was older, but built for his age with lined, rugged features, and complete with a black patch covering his left eye.

The smile he gave her was bright, kind, and disarming.

She returned it.

#

Alice slowly rose from her chair and stepped closer to the monitor. "Who … who is that?"

The conference room speakerphone at the head of the table rang before anyone could answer. Alice connected the call. "Alice Vaughn. "

"Allie, are you seeing this?"

"We all are, Val. It's not Rhys. More than likely he's working as an intermediary."

"What should we do?"

Diaz leaned forward in her chair. "Agent Dao and I are on our way, Miss Anderson," she said. "In the meantime, continue to monitor, but do not approach. Let's see where this plays out."

"Copy that."

Alice disconnected the call as Diaz and Dao rose and headed for the exit. Alice waited until she watched the two board the elevator before looking down at Tessa.

"Where is your mother?"

"One of the families acquired some of Uncle Rhys' product, and is trying to redistribute it for their own selfish gains, so she's seeing to that. Why?"

Alice turned back to the monitor without answering, gazing at the image before her.

#

The man glanced down at the princess' cup. "You're about empty, my dear," he said. "What are you having? I'll whistle up a round."

"Bourbon," she said. "A friend of mine turned me onto it. But there is no waitstaff, so you'll have to purchase it from the bar."

The man smiled as he rose and walked over to the covered bar several feet away. Zara glanced around until she saw the Hammer sitting in her line of vision on a park bench. He started to rise from his seat, but she gave a small shake of her head, warning him down.

The man returned with two plastic cups in hand. He set the one with ice mixed in with the liquid in front of her. "I saw you had one cube left in yours, so I figured you would like it chilled."

Zara drained her first glass. "Thank you, Mister …?

"Hmm. Let's call me Oliver for now."

"Thank you, Oliver." Zara set the cup aside and reached for the new glass. "Now, do we have business to discuss?"

A frown fell on Oliver's features. "I'm sorry for misleading you, my dear. We do have business to discuss."

He leaned his head slightly forward. "I want you to _not_ go into business with Rhys Griffiths. Trust me. It will be better for all involved if you and your organization stay as far away as you could possibly get from him."

Zara gave him a genuinely confused look. "Why wouldn't you want me to work with Mr. Griffiths? From what I heard, he has cash, and I have product he wants to purchase with said cash."

Oliver gave her a small smirk. "Trust me when I say that Griffiths and his entire family are … _toxic_ , for lack of a better term to describe them. This little business deal he wants to have with you is his way of continuing to build power for himself, and within the Kensington Firm. It has to stop."

He raised his glass to his lips swallowed the contents in one gulp. He set it down on the table and rose to his feet. "Trust me."

Giving her a short nod, he turned and walked for the nearest exit. Zara watched as the Hammer also rose and casually made his way through the crowd to the exit. She started to rise, but a text on her phone from Ben stopped her.

 **Stay there.**

#

Sitting in the backseat of the princess' SUV, Ben slid his phone back into his pocket and turned to Reggie. "So you don't know who that character is?"

"Nope. He wasn't in Rhys' office when Troy and I were there. In fact, we met a nice little chunk of his organization prior to leaving. I tried to get him to go, but he was adamant that I meet with the princess first."

Ben stared through the tinted windows and the metal fence separating the park from the street. "Which means that all of this was for nothing."

#

Everyone gathered back at AVI's conference room a hour later, dejected that progress could not be made.

Valerie, in charge of surveillance at the park, tried to make the most of the situation. "We have great video of this guy, and a description of what he's driving," she said. "The Hammer followed as long as he could, but lost him a couple miles out. Still, with the plate and facial rec, we should be able to get some type of hit."

Diaz waited for further news. When none was forthcoming, she stalked out of the conference room in disgust. Ben followed after her, leaving Alice, Valerie, Danny, Zara, and Tessa sitting around the table.

The princess wrung her hands in worry. "I apologize if I didn't play my part to the best of my ability. Once I realized that he wasn't the one you were after, I was a little lost."

Alice smiled, giving Zara's hand a reassuring squeeze. "You did amazing for your first time. You didn't give away anything, and from the way you warned the Hammer off, you obviously felt you could handle yourself. You were fine."

Zara smiled. "Thank you, Alice. You are so kind."

Everyone looked up as Ben walked back into the room. "Agent Diaz is clearly agitated," he said, sliding into a chair across from Alice. "She thinks that we should have went after Rhys when Troy and Reggie first made contact."

"She knows anything she would have found on Rhys is circumstantial at best," said Valerie. "Piling stuff on him and having him take it to where he's stashing everything else he has was the best play."

Alice nodded in agreement. "Val's right. We have a plan. We stick to it."

She turned her chair to face the monitor where an image of the mysterious visitor rested on the screen. "And find out what this man wants at the same time."

#

Sophie walked over to Danny's desk with two coffee mugs in hand. "You look like you could use a little pick me up," she said.

Danny rubbed his eyes and smiled up at her. "Thanks, but I'm thinking I need something a little stronger."

Sophie said nothing, but gestured down at the mug. Danny picked it up and peered at its contents. "Someone dug out Alice's stash of bourbon," he whispered playfully before taking a sip.

She smiled and sat down on the edge of the desk next to Danny's, looking at the picture of the mysterious Oliver filling his computer screen. "You've been at it with trying to find out who that guy is for two hours. Any luck?"

Danny sighed and shook his head. "Facial rec doesn't have any matches, so I sent a screenshot over to contacts I developed with the FBI. They in turn sent it to Interpol, Scotland Yard, MI6, and any other initialized organization within the UK. So far, nothing."

Sophie took a sip from her mug in silence. Danny pretended to thumb through folders on his desk for a moment before turning back to her.

"Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?"

Sophie frowned. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Earlier today. When Ben was going over the brief with everyone. If looks could kill, he would have been rolled out of here on a gurney."

Sophie sighed and slid down into the seat behind her. "I admit I was harsh with Ben. But don't you wonder what it would be like if Alice had never met him? If he had never dropped into our lives and destroyed them at every turn?"

Danny sat back in his chair, considering his answer while finishing the mug's contents. "I do. If Alice hadn't fallen for him, it would have been very … _boring_ around here _."_

"Boring?" Sophie scoffed at the notion. "I don't think me getting shot was boring at all."

"No, not that." Danny quickly sat forward. "I'm talking about all the people we had helped. Valerie's sister-in-law. Joey Singh. Your friend, Kelsey. Gwen Ericsson. Nia Brooks. We have done a lot of good here at AVI."

"But none of those cases had anything to do with Benjamin Jones and the Kensington Firm," countered Sophie.

"You're right. None of them did. Those cases were basically 9 to 5 stuff. But trying to find Mr. X, who just so happened to be Christopher Hall, who turned out to be a con man working for a powerful crime family, who turned out to really be in love with Alice, well, it broke up the monotony."

Sophie stared hard at Danny for several seconds. "You're not saying this because of your … relationship with Margot, are you?"

Danny shrugged. "I admit, the circumstances of how we got together could have been a lot different."

Sophie shook her head behind her mug, but Danny glimpsed a hint of a grin. He smiled and started to speak again, but the elevator bell interrupted.

They both quickly rose to their feet, with Danny stepping in front of Sophie while pointing his pistol at the entrance. Sophie's eyes darted around for a weapon, finally settling on staying close behind Danny.

The Hammer stepped into view from the reception area, followed by Margot Bishop. Danny relaxed and lowered his gun. The tension Sophie felt did not lessen at the sight of the former crime lord, but she did not cower in fear from her.

Margot smiled at Danny as they approached, but spoke to the Hammer. "Thank you for escorting me up. I'm sure Alice and Val would not appreciate me walking around here by myself."

"I am happy to help." The Hammer bowed at the waist. Once he straightened, he looked over at Sophie. "Are you ready to go?"

"Wait." Margot walked over to Sophie. "Before you go, I just want you to know that I'm sorry that you were injured that night at my hotel room, and I'm appreciative of what you tried to do for Tessa."

She held out her hand to Sophie, who stared at it for a long minute before slowly taking it.

Margot glanced over at Danny and started to speak but the computer screen caught her eye. She pushed past Danny and leaned close to the monitor, her eyes widening.

"It can't be," she whispered. "It … can't be."

The AVI associates traded glances with one another. "Margot, we were hoping to meet with Rhys today, but he showed up instead," said Danny. "Do you know him?"

Margot fell into the seat behind her, still staring at the screen. "Margot?"

She finally looked at Sophie first, the Hammer, and finally Danny.

"He's … my father."

#


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Rhys dropped an orange peel into his martini glass and watched it float to the bottom while he stood behind the bar in his office. "Let me get this straight. You were about to make contact with the boat owner, but you stopped because she was talking to some old bloke, and it scared you off?"

Reggie sighed and sat down in one of the chairs at the circular table. "You didn't see this guy, Rhys. Whatever he told the girl had her spooked. She started looking around the park after he left. I didn't want to get made. He was older, but looked like he could handle himself in a fight. Tall, tanned -"

"Does he have a beard? A tattoo? Any facial piercings?" Troy looked up from the newspaper he was reading at the table. "The first features relate to twenty-nine members of Argosy."

Reggie rolled his eyes and dug his phone out from his jacket. "I took a few shots of him as he was leaving," he said, rising to his feet and walking over to the bar. "Take a look at him for yourself."

Rhys glared at Reggie for several seconds before he took the phone. He thumbed it on and accessed the photos folder while raising his martini to his lips. "If this bloke looks like that Andy Capp fellow, I'll -"

Silence fell on Rhys as his bulging eyes stared at the image on Reggie's phone. The martini glass slid from his fingers to shatter on the floor. A mixture of tiny glass shards, alcohol, and orange peel laid at his feet, ignored completely as he stumbled over to a barstool and sat down.

Reggie glanced over at Troy and received a confused look in response. He turned back to Rhys, whose eyes were still transfixed on the phone.

"Rhys, you look like you just seen a ghost."

Rhys looked up from the phone at Reggie, visibly shaken.

"I think I just did."

#

Margot drained the contents of the glass Danny set in front of her in one gulp. She slammed it down and snatched the bourbon bottle from him, pouring the amber liquid in the glass until it was three fourths full before Danny reached for the bottle.

"Okay, sweetheart, let's slow down, okay? You have to tell us what's going on."

Margot gave Danny an incredulous look. "What are you trying to do? Interrogate _me?_ Trust me when I say that _I have no earthly idea what's going on!_ "

She took a healthy swig from the glass, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand before looking at the conference room monitor. The image of the man who conversed with Princess Zara was displayed on the screen.

Margot rose to her feet and walked over to the monitor, pointing at the image several times. "That man may _look_ like my father, he may _talk_ like my father, but he _can't_ be my father."

Margot rubbed her forehead with her free hand and exhaled audibly while she continued to stare at the monitor. Danny turned to Tessa, who stood at the door. "Have you ever seen him before?"

Tessa's head tilted slightly to the left. "Uh, you seemed to forget that my invitation to the Griffiths family gatherings was misplaced for fifteen years or so. I haven't seen so much as a photograph of my grandfather, so I wouldn't have known him if I passed him on the street."

The three continued to talk in the conference room while Alice, Ben, and Valerie exited the elevator onto AVI's floor. Valerie glanced into the room as they walked past and shook her head.

"That family, Allie, I swear they are like an emotional soap opera. Brother goes against sister, daughter almost kills mother, daughter betrays mother, father, and uncle, and now father returns from the dead. It's - it's a never ending loop."

Ben shot a glance at Margot, who marched over and begun pouring yet another stiff drink for herself. "How do you think I feel, Val? I've known Rhys and Margot for more than sixteen years and they always find a way to surprise me."

"Except this time, it's not them doing the surprising, and that's the surprising thing," said Alice, leading everyone into her office. She reached for three glasses on the credenza behind her desk. "I hate going against someone we have no information on. Alive, dead, or undecided."

"Are you guys sure we shouldn't loop Dao and Diaz in on this resurrection?" Valerie sat down on the couch. "I don't feel right keeping them in the dark on this, especially when it comes to Ben's deal."

Ben smiled down at her. "Val, I'm touched."

Alice pulled a bottle of bourbon from a desk drawer and poured some into each of the glasses. "We don't have much to go on ourselves. No. We need to find out why he isn't dead, and why he's here messing around with his son's affairs. And it seems like we can get that process started right now."

Margot entered the office with Tessa in tow. "Oh good. I was wondering if this distillery had another bottle stashed somewhere," she said, eyeing the bourdon and glasses on Alice's desk.

"Oh no." Ben stopped her before she could get close and turned her to sit down in one of the office chairs. "We need you as close to sober as you can get so you can tell us how your father is still alive in the first place."

"What is there to tell?" Margot shrugged. "It happened a few short months before I met you. Mum told us that he was sick, and then he died while I was in Denmark. I might have seen him maybe two or three times before the end."

Alice handed Val and Ben each a glass and sat down with hers in the other chair. "Your family is dysfunctional, Margot. You had no idea whatsoever what happened to your father?"

"Dysfunctional? That's a bit harsh, don't you think? I admit we all may have had our moments, but name one thing that led you to such a drastic conclusion. "

Instead of responding, Alice glanced up at Tessa, who leaned against the wall looking at something on her phone. Margot caught the look and gestured in defeat. "Bollocks. Name _two_ things."

"Margot, enough." Ben sat down on the edge of the desk. "How sure are you that the man is really your father?"

"I'm one hundred percent sure that the man is dead," she responded, confidence evident in her tone. "And I look at him and all I see is an older version of my brother. He looks like Rhys before he turned to a life of martinis and backstabbing and shagging whores."

She sighed and rose to her feet. "I have had a long day. I think I need to go to my room, open a bottle of wine, and go to sleep hoping today was just a horrible nightmare."

Margot reached the door, stopping to look over at Tessa. "Coming?"

"In a minute, Mum. I just need to say goodbye to Daddy and Stepmummy first."

Margot nodded and moved over to where Danny sat at his desk. The second she was out of earshot, Tessa hurried over to Alice's desk, grabbed an ink pen and began scribbling on a sheet of paper. She looked at Ben and directed his attention to her writing.

"You want answers?" she whispered. "Call that number."

She dropped the pen on the desk and hastened out of the office after her mother. Ben glanced at Alice, who rose from the couch and walked over to him as he reached for the paper Tessa scribbled the digits. "What is it?"

"An international phone number." Ben looked up and watched as Danny and Tessa guide Margot to the elevators. "I wonder who's going to pick up on the other end."

Alice took the sheet and walked behind her desk. "Only one way to find out," she said, dialing the number on her desk phone.

"Who do you believe it is?" asked Valerie, now on her feet and stepping close. "Old rival? Another member?"

Ben hit the speakerphone button. "We're about to find out."

The three anxiously waited for several seconds as the ringing shrilled from the phone. Suddenly a click issued from the instrument, followed by a feminine, accented, and very familiar voice.

"Hello? Hello, who's there?"

All three looked at each other in surprise. Ben recovered first and cleared his throat before answering.

"Hello, Sybil."

#

Reggie looked over at Troy. "What about you? Do you know if this is Rhys' father?"

Troy glanced at the phone in Reggie's hand. "Everything I have on the Kensington Firm only goes back two years. If that's his father -"

Rhys angrily snatched the phone away from Reggie's grasp and slammed it on the bar. "Enough! Right, I know how to handle this. We're gonna find this bloke, and we're gonna end this welcome back from the dead party before it even gets good and going."

"How are we going to do it?" asked Troy.

Rhys reached underneath his bar and pulled out his nickel-plated 9mm pistol with attached silencer. He held it up to Troy for maximum effect. " _This_ is how we'll handle it."

"Rhys, you're too close to this." Reggie picked up his phone and slipped it into his jacket. "Let me and Troy look for him first. Find out where he's staying, who _he's_ working with."

Rhys briefly considered the suggestion before a grin formed on his features. "That does sound like a fabulous idea … uh, _Reggie._ Yes, a fabulous idea indeed. Get to work to that while I find someone to clean this mess."

Rhys slid his pistol back underneath the bar and walked to his office door. Reggie expelled a sigh of relief as he and Troy shared a quick look.

#

Alice, Valerie, and Ben looked at the office phone in disbelief. "Sybil Griffiths? Really?" mouthed Alice.

Ben held a finger to his lips as the former head of the Kensington Firm responded. "I must admit, you are the last one I expected to hear from. Especially after hearing what had happened to you and the rest of my brood a few months ago."

Ben raised a quizzical eyebrow. "How do you know about what happened?"

"Who do you think Margot and Tessa stayed with during their exile, dear? I lost count of how many times I sat up late at night and listened to the stories, the apologies, the foul language."

"Well, I think we both know that Margot is a handful, Sybil."

A light chuckle emitted from the phone. "Oh, dearie. I was talking about my granddaughter. Such an interesting young woman. I can't tell if she's going to follow in your footsteps or Margot's.

"Or maybe Alice Vaughan's."

Alice glanced at Ben and was about to speak when Sybil continued. "But enough about that. Tessa was the only one who had my number. By you calling it, something terrible has happened. Is … one of my children dead?"

"No, Sybil," Ben said quickly. "Margot and Rhys are fine. I'm calling you about a different matter."

"Well, then. If they're alive, then I see no reason to continue this line of conversation."

"Sybil, please." Ben sat down at the desk. "This is very important."

"I treated you like a son for fifteen years, Ben. What do you do? You betrayed _everything_ and _everyone._ The firm, me, Margot. You betrayed everything because you fell in love with Alice Vaughan."

Ben rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Nothing I can do will change the past, Sybil, and believe me when I say you are the last person I would want to call about this. It turns out that you may be able to share some insight into what happened with your husband."

Another chuckle could be heard from the phone. "And why would I want to talk about my late husband?"

Ben steeled himself. "Because we saw him walking around at a park earlier this afternoon."

An air of silence fell upon the room. Alice looked at the phone and saw the line was still connected. She looked across the desk at Ben and mouthed the words _Keep Talking._

"We are trying to take Rhys down, but a man interfered in our con. Margot saw the video of the meet and identified him as her father. Your husband."

It was almost a full minute before Sybil finally spoke. "Impossible," she whispered. "Simply impossible."

Ben slightly leaned forward. "Sybil?"

"Oh, alright, Ben. If Margot realizes that the man she saw _may_ be her father, then … there's a possibility. I will provide whatever information I can. On three conditions."

Ben frowned. "What conditions?"

"First, I need you to gather whatever video or audio evidence you have supporting the claim that Trevor, my dear late husband, is alive."

"I see no problem with that. What is the second condition?"

"The second condition is that I would like to see said evidence."

"Uh, Sybil, I can email you this stuff with no problem."

"Oh, please, you know I can't be bothered with YouTube and email addresses and computers. No, I want everything brought to me."

Alice heard a soft rap on the door behind her. She turned and hurriedly gestured for Danny to enter and handed him the sheet of paper with Sybil's number scribbled on it. She traced her finger over the first few numbers before Danny nodded excitedly and rushed outside to his desk. Valerie followed him.

She turned back to Ben as he said, "Agreed, Sybil. I'll bring everything and show you myself."

"And that brings us to my third conclusion. I'm afraid that if I see you, I would have the urge to kill you myself. I don't need to be worked up like that at my age, so it would be to your best interest not to be anywhere near me."

It was Ben's turn to chuckle. "Sybil, how do you expect -"

"I want Alice Vaughan to bring me this evidence."

A hint of anger fell on Ben's features. He quickly composed himself as he rose to his feet. "If you think that I would let Allie -"

Alice grabbed his arm. "Where and when?" She ignored Ben's look of shock and surprise. "Sybil? I'll come meet you. I'll bring what you want."

A short few seconds passed before Sybil responded. "I should have known Alice was somewhere close by. Marvelous. Well then. Miss Vaughan, keep your cell phone close by. Oh, and have a jet ready at a moment's notice."

A pause before she continued, her tone hardening slightly. "And I will say this one time and one time only. If this is a ploy to lure me back so I would end up in the hands of the FBI once again, this will _not_ end well. I am serious."

"I assure you that is not the case, Sybil," said Alice. She held up a finger to cut Ben off from speaking. "I will await your call."

"Our first meeting was, shall I say, _eventful,"_ said Sybil. Her tone returned to a more jovial state. "I look forward to sharing a cup of tea with you this time around."

The call disconnected on Sybil's end. Ben stared at the phone for a few seconds before raising his gaze to Alice. She stared back, awaiting the inevitable fallout.

#


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Danny gently placed a cold compress on Margot's forehead as she laid on his couch in his apartment. "Feeling any better?"

Margot opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Let me answer your questions with a question. Do you have any relatives you know that have risen from the dead?"

"No, and I pray that I don't." Danny sat down beside her. "Want to talk about it?"

Margot sat up on her elbows and pulled the cloth from her head. "Why on God's name would I want to do that? Or haven't you notice that I was downing enough bourbon to not talk about this?"

"I'm only asking to try to help you make light of this, Margot," Danny said soothingly. "Fifteen or sixteen years ago, there had to be something you and the rest of the family missed. Anything that can help Alice and Ben. And you."

Margot stared into Danny's brown eyes as if she was seeing him for the very first time. She smiled as she reached up to caress his cheek. "We never had a chance to properly say hello, B Team."

#

Ethan Ward straightened his silk tie as he casually strolled through the crowd conversing in small groups in the ballroom. Almost every person he came in contact with was offered a warm smile and handshake before moving on, closing in on his primary objective.

It was readily waiting for him when he reached the bar. Lisa, a petite brunette, held it out in the palm of her hand from behind the bar. "Here you are, sir."

Ethan smiled as he accepted the glass of bourbon. "I hope you have enough of this stuff in the back, Lisa," he said. "I have the feeling I'm going to need it tonight."

The bartender wiped the bar down with a towel and flung it over her shoulder. "Oh? What's the problem, Mr. Ward? Looks like the usual movers and shakers are out tonight."

Ethan took a sip of his drink and subtly pointed to a corner of the room. "You see the two men talking with that woman over by the large fern? They are three of the largest landowners in Los Angeles, and I have them in the same building. Somehow I need to convince them to sell me two hundred acres apiece. Six hundred total. And the the land that I want to buy? All connected. Prime real estate. At least that's what I got from geological surveys. So I have a mission on my hands tonight."

Ethan took another sip as he noted his executive assistant enter the ballroom and headed straight towards him. "Mr. Ward, I have Alice Vaughan on the line for you," she said, holding out a cell phone. "She said it was important."

Ethan finished his glass and signaled for Lisa to pour him another as he raised the phone to his ear. "You know, I'm looking around and I don't see you, Val, Danny, or Sophie here. Group effort to stand me up?"

"I'm sorry, Ethan. Something came up and it tied our office up the whole day. I'm still at AVI."

"Is this an AVI thing or an AVI slash Benjamin Jones thing?"

Ethan could see the grin of his ex-fiancee' in the back of his mind as she answered. "A bit of both. He's back."

"Really." A bit of jealousy rose within. He quickly pushed it aside. "What are you helping him with?"

"Taking down Rhys Griffiths, and before you ask, the FBI has Ben under a new conditional deal, so no worries there."

Ethan nodded his thanks to Lisa as she set another drink down on the bar in front of him. "Well, that's good," he said, trying hard not to make it sound forced. "But I have a feeling this call isn't to tell me what you guys were up to today."

"No, it isn't." Alice paused before continuing. "I need to borrow your jet."

Ethan almost laughed. "If it wasn't for the fact that I have three, I would be rolling my eyes right now." He sighed. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know."

"Okay. Well, when will you need it?"

It was Alice's turn to sigh. "I don't know that either."

Ethan glanced at the corner where the three property owners were still talking. "This isn't a secret honeymoon getaway with Ben, is it? I remember how he wanted you to get on the plane with him a few months ago."

"Far from it. I have to meet with the former head of the Kensington Firm. Exchange of information. She agreed to meet with me and only me."

Ethan snorted. "What does Ben have to say about that?"

"That's a conversation for a later time."

The executive assistant caught Ethan's eye and tapped on her wrist, tilting her head in the direction of the landowners. He gave her a confirming nod. "I have a meeting right now, but set up everything with my assistant here before you get off the phone. She'll get everything ready for you, okay?"

"Thank you, Ethan. Hopefully this will be the last time I borrow your plane."

"I hope so, too. The gas isn't cheap."

#

Valerie entered Alice's office with two coffee mugs. "I ran that number of Sybil's every which way after Danny left with Margot. It's a burner. No telling where on the planet she is."

"Oh, I am quite sure without any doubt whatsoever that she's in a country that has no extradition agreement with the U.S.," said Alice, reaching up to accept one of the mugs. "Actually, that's the least of my worries right now."

Val sat down in one of the chairs facing the desk. "Let me guess. Ben wasn't happy with you agreeing to fly off to God knows where. I can't say I blame him. Where is he, anyway?"

"He's down in the secret office with Her Highness and the rest of the gang." She sipped on her coffee and sat back in her chair. "She's really very excited about all this. Giddy and everything."

"Oh, God. I hope not." Val made a face behind her coffee mug. "But back to this trip. I understand you wanting me here to run AVI, and pretty much everyone else is stuck here as well, especially Ben. So, who's going with you?"

Alice rose to her feet. "I thought about that last night, and finally came to a decision. It turned out to be the one thing that Ben actually liked about the trip."

#

Tessa frowned up at Alice. "Let me make sure I heard you correctly. You want me to go with you to meet with my grandmother."

Alice smiled. "You did hear me correctly. I need to make sure that I'm not flying into a trap. I really don't think that she'll do anything with her only granddaughter present."

"That's a plan you use if you're planning on using someone as a human shield."

"Far from it." Alice started to slide her tablet into her purse, but stopped as an afterthought occurred. "But just in case, stay by my side at all times."

Finished with her bag, she moved to the couch and sat down beside Tessa. "Any idea where we're going? Just for general purpose, of course."

"Of course." The younger woman shrugged. "We spent a few weeks in Morocco. Vatican City, almost a month. She was making plans to move again when we came back to Los Angeles."

"By herself?"

"If I remember correctly, she has a dozen associates still loyal to her from the firm at her beck and call."

Alice nodded as her cell phone vibrated on the table in front of her. She picked it up and glanced at the screen for a second before holding it up for Tessa to see.

"It's time."

#

"Fly from LAX to JFK, and receive further instructions." Ben sat on the bed and read the text on Alice's phone several times, struggling not to hurl the device against the bedroom wall. "Allie, I'm not liking this at all."

Alice zipped up her suitcases behind him and walked into her closet. "Well, I'm not surprised. Sybil had a dozen guards from the firm facilitating moves and security. She has to pick up and be ready to move at a moment's notice."

She walked out with her gun case, which she slipped into her purse. "From the list of non extradition treaty countries, JFK would be a reasonable launching point."

Ben rose and handed Alice her phone. She reached for it, but he didn't immediately let it go. She looked up into his face and smiled.

"Sybil could have did whatever she wanted in the days since she was sprung from federal custody. She may have twelve men, but who knows? She really may have fifty. A hundred. Two hundred."

Alice reached for Ben's hand with her free one. "The point is she had her best chance to do whatever months ago, and she didn't take it. I think I'm gonna be okay."

Ben gave a slow nod and released the phone. He turned around and reached for the suitcases and hefted them off the bed before heading for the bedroom door. Alice dropped her phone into her bag as she followed him out to the living room where Tessa, Danny, and Margot waited.

Ben looked over at Tessa as Danny relieved him of the luggage and exited the house. "Try to behave yourself … wherever it is that you're going. And give your grandmother my best."

Tessa smiled. "And if she says that the best you deserve is a word that television censors bleep out?"

"It wouldn't be surprising." Ben held his arms out, and Tessa fell into his embrace. Margot hesitated for a few seconds before placing a hand on their daughter's shoulder. She kept it there for three seconds before steering her towards the door.

Alice leaned in close to Ben as she watched as the two slowly walked outside. "Sometimes I feel those two just might have a chance at a normal mother-daughter relationship," she whispered.

Right before the women stepped out of view, Tessa looked at Margot and laughed. "Fine, I'll see if I can get your favorite pistol back from Grandmama, but you should have never given it to her in the first place."

Alice looked up at Ben, who shrugged. "Don't look at me. I have boys, high school proms, and high school pyramid schemes to look forward to. And you do, too, stepmummy."

She wrapped her arms around his waist to pull into his chest. "Ugh. Don't remind me. I much rather make sure Margot gets her pistol back."

Ben brushed a lock of Alice's hair away from her eyes and reached down to give her a passionate kiss. She returned it, embracing him tightly for a long minute.

When they finally pulled apart, she cupped his chin with her hands. "Promise me you won't rush and do anything crazy. At least hold off until I get back."

Ben grinned. "I can't make any promises, but it gives you incentive to get there and get back. And I won't follow you to the airport and try to talk you out of this trip. Deal?"

Alice stood up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek. "Deal," she whispered.

Ben returned the kiss, keeping contact to her face to cheek. "You are the bravest woman I know, Alice Vaughan."

She held onto his arm as she walked away, sliding her hand down it until it fell into his open, outstretched hand. She continued until the last thing touching was one single fingertip before they finally parted.

Ben watched as Alice walked outside. She stood for a second at the door before turning to look back at Ben, who remained standing in the living room. He gave her a small wave, his eyes never wavering from hers as she returned it.

Then she was gone.

#

"For someone who has entered and exited the country several times under next to illegal circumstances, I have a penchant for traveling in style," said Tessa, marveling from the backseat at the Gulfstream Danny navigated towards on the tarmac.

Alice glanced over her shoulder. "Well, if you get in trouble and you're deported, believe me when I say that this will not be an option."

Danny brought the SUV to a halt beside the boarding ramp. He got out and walked around to the back as Alice and Tessa exited. "Don't worry about Val and AVI while you're gone," he said, handing the luggage off to two baggage handlers who appeared from underneath the fuselage. "And Ben and I will make sure we keep Dao and Diaz off of your trail."

"We'll need three days at the longest." Alice slung her purse over her shoulder. "I prefer if you can finish this, it will be before we cross into international waters, but whatever you can do, I appreciate it very much."

Danny nodded and gave her a hug. He looked over at Tessa and said, "Behave yourself, please? Try not to start an international incident."

Tessa gave him her trademark smirk as she rolled her eyes. "Behave yourself with my mother, stepdaddy," she said over her shoulder as she walked up the boarding ramp. "I just hope you two are using protection. I prefer being an only child."

Alice grinned at Danny who shook his head as he walked over to the car and slid behind the wheel. He gave Alice a small wave before turning the vehicle back towards the airport entrance.

Alice headed up the ramp and met the pilot at the door heading into the cockpit. "Miss Vaughan, I should be receiving clearance for take off in a few minutes. If you could join the rest of the passengers, I'll get us going."

Alice's eyes widened. "Passengers?" Heart racing, she spun to face the rear of the plane's cabin, reaching inside her purse for her gun at the same time.

The Hammer caught her hand before she could draw her weapon. He raised his eyes from it to lock onto hers. "Valerie and Sophie said you would probably try to shoot someone," he said in his usual soft tone. "I didn't want to believe it, so we made a bet."

The noise of someone clearing their throat caught Alice's attention. She looked over the Hammer's shoulder at a smiling Sophie. "That's right. Time to pay up."

The Hammer released Alice while reaching a gloved hand into his jacket and pulled out a neatly folded hundred dollar bill. He held it out over his shoulder between two fingers for Sophie to snatch it with glee. "It seems betting against the women of Anderson and Vaughan Investigations is not something for anyone to do," he said, a hint of a smile forming on his face.

Alice finally relaxed, dropping her pistol back into her bag. "What are you two doing here?"

"I suggested to Val to fly with you to … wherever it is you're going." Sophie glanced at the Hammer as he sat down and buckled himself him. "He offered to come along."

Alice noted Tessa was seated in the very back of the cabin, looking out of the window. She smiled at Sophie and grasped her hand as she looked over her shoulder at the pilot who waited patiently at the cockpit entrance.

"We're ready."

#


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Ben stared at the image of Margot and Rhys' alleged father for what felt like forever, though it was only five minutes since he had entered his group's secret office.

He looked up from the laptop, homemade brewed cup of coffee in hand as the door opened and Danny entered. "Hey, Danny. Heard from the girls yet?"

"They should be touching down at JFK right about now to refuel." Danny sat down on the other side of the small table facing Ben. "Do you think it was a mistake sending Alice and Tessa by themselves to meet with Sybil Griffiths? I think of her and it's hard for me to figure out if Margot emulates her."

"Sybil is a woman with a style all of her own, and mostly it involves not even getting her own hands dirty." Ben poured some coffee from a thermos into a paper cup and passed it to Danny. "Margot and Rhys made up their own techniques of ruthless behavior as time passed."

He closed the laptop and sipped on his coffee. "And speaking of Margot, how are things with you two going?"

Danny stared at Ben over the rim of his cup without drinking. He slowly set the cup down and laid his hands on the table. "I hope this won't make things … awkward between us, Ben. Me dating your ex."

Ben snorted. "Uh, Danny? I am completely fine with it."

"You two dated for fifteen years."

"Relationship had run its course. We're both in a better place. I'm engaged to Alice now."

"And of course she is the mother of your child. Your baby mama."

Ben rose from his seat to a board where pictures of the conversation between Princess Zara and the older man were tacked. "Tessa is a teenager, Danny. Not a swaddled baby."

His eyes darted from one photograph to another, acutely aware of Danny joining him. He stood beside him and looked at the board.

After several seconds, he turned to Ben. "I just don't want any hard feelings between us."

Ben rolled his eyes.

#

Alice, Tessa, and Sophie sat at a table drinking coffee in the middle of one of JFK's concourses. Sophie nervously glanced around at the passersby before looking down at her watch. "They should be done with refueling the jet by now," she said.

"Sophie, calm down," Alice admonished, laying a comforting hand on top of Sophie's. "We're far away from the mess in L.A. -"

"And on our way to a wrinkle of a time with Grandmama," finished Tessa, her eyes locked on her cell.

Alice and Sophie both glared at her. Alice was about to retort when she spotted the Hammer cutting through the crowd at a brisk pace towards them. She frowned at the sight, trying to put her finger on the cause for his hurry.

Then it dawned on her. _Wait. Why_ _is_ he _hurrying?_

She rose to her feet as the Hammer came to a halt at the table.

"We have a problem."

#

"The pilot was found unconscious in the men's bathroom fifteen minutes ago," said the Hammer as he led Alice, Tessa, and Sophie into the hangar where Ethan's plane rested. "He's already on his way to the nearest hospital. EMTs say he may have a concussion."

Sophie nervously glanced around the hangar. "Who would want to knock out the pilot?"

Alice looked over at Tessa, who returned a casual shrug.

With guns drawn, Alice and the Hammer boarded the jet, leaving Sophie and Tessa below. Alice covered the Hammer as he went the length of the cabin peering into empty seats until he arrived at the closed bathroom door. He opened it and flipped the light switch on before training his head inside.

"Anything?" asked Alice.

The Hammer withdrew from the bathroom and shook his head. He indicated the closed cockpit door behind Alice and moved behind a row of seats where he had a clear angle.

Alice crouched low and inserted a finger into the door loop. With a sharp nod from the Hammer, she pulled it opened, bracing herself for a hail of gunfire.

After several seconds of silence, she looked over at the Hammer. The uncertain look he gave her followed by him securing his weapon was the second surprising thing he had done in the space of ten minutes. She rose from her crouch and slowly peered inside the cockpit.

An elderly woman stood inside. She barely topped five feet, wearing a sweater tied over her flower printed dress which she smoothed out with one hand while sipping bourbon from a glass with the other. She looked at Alice and grinned.

"I've been wondering what's been keeping you, sweetheart," she said. Her voice resonated a deep southern dialect that matched her shawl draped over her drinking hand. "It's time to get in the air, don't you think?"

Alice did not move her head. Her pistol rounded the doorframe to aim at the woman.

"Who are you?"

The woman gave Alice a kind smile as she stepped forward and placed a weathered hand on the barrel of her gun. "Sweetie, I'm your pilot. Now, why don't you get Miss Tessa and that other young lady in here before we miss our window, huh?"

Alice's mouth fell open.

#

Aldrick Shive spun his chair as he looked up from the tablet Margot gave him. "Who is this man?"

Margot did not turn away from the view outside of the office Ben once occupied while in his year-long guise as Christopher Hall. " _Who_ it is is not important. _What_ he is capable of, which is the complete and utter dissolution of the Kensington Firm, _is._ I need to have him found and brought to me."

Shive looked at Margot's still form for a minute before rising from his seat. He slid the tablet onto the desk and slowly walked over to where she stood, taking in her shape in her black, long-sleeved turtleneck dress. "It amazes me how we never hooked up before, Margot," he said, running his hand down her backside.

Margot chuckled as she turned around, jabbing a nickel-plated .22 into Shive's jugular. The motion was sudden, but he forced himself not to take a step back.

"Are we going to have a problem, Aldrick? Because we really wouldn't want a tryst to possibly ruin a profitable business relationship, now would we?"

Shive smiled, his eyes never wavering from the weapon in her hand.

"No. Of course not."

#

Once Shive slid into the rear seat of his car, he looked up at his driver. "Did you get what I asked for?"

The driver held out a folded piece of paper over his shoulder. "I scoped out the place with some of the boys just like you asked. You were right. Something big is going on. We followed the trail to that address."

Shive unfolded the paper and looked at the contents. He whistled once and smiled. "And you're sure he's there?"

"Not completely sure. But the parking garage connects to several buildings in the area. He's close by."

Shive nodded in agreement. "Well, there's one way to find out."

#

"Sybil and I have been the best of friends since the sixties. We had so much fun following the Stones and the Beatles. She is such a sweetheart."

The woman expertly navigated the controls of the plane as Alice stood behind her. She glanced over her shoulder at Tessa who stood with her usual smirk on her face. Sophie and the Hammer sat behind her conversing in low tones in their seats.

Alice turned back to the woman. "You do know that she was once the head of one of the most notorious crime syndicates in the world, do you?"

The woman laughed. "Child, you say that like it means something to me. Of course I know. I helped start it."

"Tilda, tell dear Alice about the story of you and Grandmama tossing that train coming out of Paris." Tessa grinned as she slid past Alice into the co-pilot seat. "I heard some of the things you two did to those Interpol agents are considered illegal in certain states."

Alice held up a hand to forestall further comment. "Where are you taking us?"

The woman, Tilda, looked over her shoulder. "I'm sure you know by now it's a country with no extradition treaty with the U.S."

Alice crossed her arms. "Shocker."

"So why don't you get yourself settled in." Tilda gave her a kind smile. "We have a long flight ahead of us."

"Tilda, go ahead and tell Alice where we're going." Tessa's fingers ran lightly over the controls. "I would tell her myself but she probably wouldn't believe me."

Alice's eyes narrowed to slits. "So you do know."

Tessa shrugged. "I have a suspicion."

#

Ben knocked on Valerie's door and stuck his head in the office. "Hey. I got your message."

Val rose from her desk. "Ben, this gentleman walked in and said he knows you. I tried to play it off, but he gave details of Alice's house and who was there this morning."

A well-dressed man got up from his chair and turned to face Ben, straightening his jacket. "Hello, Ben."

Ben chuckled as he stepped inside. "Aldrick Shive. Well, which one of your guys was sitting on my fianceé's house this morning? Stone? Guy?"

Shive's face was a stone mask saved for one eyebrow arching just enough for Ben to notice. "Actually, that part is none of your business, Ben. But that's not why I'm here."

"If this is about Mickey, I'm sorry but I had nothing to do with that." Ben walked around Shive until he stood between him and Valerie's desk. "Your father getting caught? That was all me, but I had nothing to do with Mickey's death."

Shive gave a soft snort and rubbed his chin. "If I had even an _inkling_ of a thought that you shot Mickey, everyone you hold dear in life … would be dead." He looked up into Ben's eyes. "But I know you're innocent. Rhys was the one who shot Mickey. And as for Pops getting busted … let's chalk it up to you got the better of the old man."

He reached back for a coffee mug on the side table and took a sip. "Would you believe I told him to take an earlier flight? Stubborn bastard. No, Ben. I'm here because your ex wants me to pick someone up, and she didn't give me any reason why except that he could destroy the Kensington Firm for good."

Ben glanced at Val. "Who?" he asked.

Shive pulled a cell phone from his jacket and held it out to Ben. "She didn't give me a name or anything. Just wants me to track him down and bring him to her."

The image of Margot and Rhys' alleged father filled the small screen. "I wasn't planning on making contact with you at all, but I haven't gotten as far as I have in this business without planning my route from point A to point B. I want to know what I'm getting myself into."

"When it comes to Margot, I completely understand," said Ben. He took a seat on the couch and indicated for Shive to do the same. "I'll tell you what I know, but I need you to do me a favor."

#

 _Humhumalé_

 _Island of the Maldives_

A sedan came to a stop in front of a spacious terrace townhouse on a busy street. The driver exited the vehicle and rushed to open doors for Alice and her companions.

Tilda draped a sweater over her shoulders and took in the scenery as the driver unloaded the bags. "Your grandmother has really taken to this place, Tessa," she said. "Gazebo out by the beach, walking distance to the market for shopping and the finest restaurants, and our favorite: no extradition."

Alice glanced at the set of double doors behind Tilda. "Will you be staying long?"

The older woman smiled and wagged a finger at Alice. "Oh, Sybil warned me about you, young lady. She said you could be very … inquisitive. I guess it's the private investigator in you."

Tilda smiled and turned to open the doors with a flourish. Alice, Sophie, and Tessa followed with the Hammer and the driver bringing up the rear with bags in hand.

They came to a stop in a circular room. A fountain rested in the center underneath a glass dome emitting a reasonable amount of sunlight. Twin staircases arched on both sides leading to the second floor. A long hallway led to another set of double doors. Alice could see the gazebo Tilda mentioned earlier.

The woman turned to face her guests. "All right. Ms. Novak and Mr. … _Hammer,_ if you follow Refé here, he'll get you settled in your rooms while I take these ladies to speak with Sybil."

Sophie and the Hammer glanced at Alice who gave a small nod of consent. Sophie nodded back and she followed the Hammer and the driver upstairs. Tilda indicated the doors at the end of the hallway. "Let's get some fresh air, dearies," she said.

Seconds later, the three women stepped out onto a porch as long as the house itself. A row of white rocking chairs sat neatly in a row facing out towards the railing and the beach. A set of steps led down to a brick walkway which through an impressive garden to the Victorian-style gazebo.

Sybil Griffiths sat underneath at a glass table in a straw beach chair. The golden-haired former head of the Kensington Firm looked up from the book in her lap as the three women walked up the steps. "Ah! Welcome, welcome, welcome," she said as she rose to her feet and placed the book on the table. "Tilda, I trust you experienced no difficulties during your journey?"

Tilda shook her head. "They were well behaved, though I think the redhead didn't appreciate me taking her pilot out. She contacted his boss in L.A."

Sybil smiled as she looked over at Alice. "As much as I wanted to avoid drama, I couldn't take the chance of you contacting anyone concerning my whereabouts once you knew of your destination. Though I admit I'm surprised that you brought my granddaughter along with you. Hello there, young one."

Tessa walked up to Sybil and kissed her on the cheek. "I only realized where we were going when I saw Tilda for the first time."

Sybil squeezed Tessa's hand. "Dear, why don't you head up to your room? I left you a present up there that I think you will definitely enjoy. Your stepmother and I have much to discuss."

Tilda hooked an arm into Tessa's. "Come on, young lady. Let's see what your grandma got you and then get something to eat. You must be hungry."

Tilda and Tessa began walking back towards the house, leaving Alice and Sybil alone. They stared at each other for in silence. Neither one took their eyes from the other.

"I feel like we're about to have a shootout," Sybil said finally. "Do you mind if we stare at each other across the table while sitting down? My left knee has been bothering me as of late."

Alice did not take her eyes off of Sybil, but she did slowly move to an empty chair facing her and sat down, placing her purse beside her. Sybil did the same.

They continued to stare at each other for several more tense seconds until Sybil decided to speak. "First of all, I want to assure you that I mean you absolutely no harm, Miss Vaughan. You have nothing to fear from me or my associates during your stay here, which I hope will be an informative and relaxing one."

Alice did not relax, but she did sit back in her chair in an effort to make herself more comfortable. "Let me assure _you_ , Sybil, that if turning you in would get Ben and Tessa off the hook with the FBI, I would do it in a heartbeat. But seeing that it won't, the only thing I'm here for is any information concerning your late husband."

Sybil nodded. "Very well. What would you like to know?"

"I guess the first thing would be how exactly did he die?"

The expression on Sybil's face changed at the question. "My dear Trevor, God bless his soul," she said sadly. "He survived everything thrown at him. Assassination attempts. Bombings. Financial ruin. No matter what it was, Trevor Griffiths always found a way to walk away unscathed."

The sadness in Sybil's voice softened Alice somewhat. "It was implied by one of your children that you killed your husband."

Sybil snorted as she rose from her seat and walked over to a mini bar. "The one thing I do not like about living here is that alcohol is prohibited except for the resorts. Fortunately, we are close enough where the local authorities turn a blind eye as long as the stores are not past a certain amount. Bourbon?"

Alice nodded. "Margot says so many insane things in anger. She has certainly said that many times." Sybil finished pouring the drinks and walked them over to the table. "The last time was when she staged her little coup. When she made a play for my organization by going under my nose and snatching up Lena Wells."

Alice accepted her drink and took a sip. "I remembered that didn't turn out very well for you that night."

Sybil smiled as she sat down. "And I heard it didn't turn out well for you that night, dear. Something about the FBI finding a stolen painting at your house? My daughter certainly put the screws to both of us that night."

She took a drink and shook her head. "But Margot could not have been more wrong. I did not kill Trevor. Cancer did."

The sadness was more evident in Sybil's voice as she continued. "Trevor was diagnosed with lung cancer sixteen years ago. Never smoked a day in his life. It snuck up on him rather quickly."

She fell silent, leaving Alice with an opportunity to ask a question. "Were you with him when he died?"

Sybil shook her head. "I was in Denmark … with Margot. She was in labor with Tessa at the time. Rhys … he was God knows where. Trevor … died alone. No family there … to say goodbye."

Sybil picked up a napkin from the table and dabbled at the corners of her eyes. "I flew back as quickly as I could, but he left instructions to cremate his body after he died. When I returned to London, an urn with his ashes was waiting for me. He had arranged everything without my knowledge."

Alice reached down into her bag and pulled out a tablet. "I have pictures and video of the man who interrupted our con against Rhys. Are you up for taking a look?"

Sybil smiled. "That's why we're here, my dear. Show me."

Alice held out the tablet to Sybil. She sipped on her beverage while Sybil looked down at the small screen. Her expression did not change for the four minutes she examined the evidence in silence.

Finally she looked up at Alice and smiled. "Thank you for bringing this to me, Alice. I certainly do appreciate it very much. I believe I can now shed some light on this mystery of yours."

Alice leaned forward in her seat. "So he is your husband."

"God no!" Sybil waved the suggestion away as she slid the tablet on the table. "My Trevor was a handsome man. Much more handsome than his older twin brother."

"Older brother? Twin?"

"By seven minutes. And being nearly identical twins is pretty much where the similarities end. Oliver was a constant troublemaker. Could never hold a job. Always in and out of prison. I believe he lost his eye during a fight in a Turkish jail."

Alice found her interest peaking. "Margot and Rhys never met him?"

"Oliver was considered to be the black sheep of the family so, no. They did not even know he existed. Trevor did not want him anywhere near the children. The last time I ever saw him was … eighteen years ago. I honestly thought he was dead. Until now."

Sybil jabbed a finger at the tablet. "Alice, if Oliver is in Los Angeles, his intentions are not honorable. Margot and Rhys, they may be some of the most despicable, conniving people you have ever met, but they are still brother and sister. It's a relationship they both recognize and respect no matter the circumstances. Trevor and Oliver? It was a wonder they did not kill each other while gestating in the womb. Oliver is much more dangerous than my children ten times over."

She rose and moved to a chair close to Alice. When she spoke again, her voice took on a more pleading tone. "No matter how you may feel about me, you and Ben are the only ones I trust at this point to watch over my family. I hope that you will do the right thing and make sure that my daughter is protected. That my granddaughter is protected. I know you are working to bring Rhys in, but please make sure he is safe as well. They have no idea what he is capable of."

#


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Alice slowly stirred in her bed to the sounds of birds chirping just outside of her open bedroom terrace door. She took in the aroma of the salt air, letting it soothe her as she stretched her arm across to the other side of the bed -

She sat up with a start, realizing that Ben was not with her. She sighed while shaking her head, realization flooding her senses in the early morning.

She was not home in her own bed in Los Angeles. Instead, she was alone in a bed in a foreign land, on the other side of the world.

Sighing again, she swung her legs out of the bed and stood. Reaching for one of Ben's t-shirts she had packed, she slid it on as she walked out onto the terrace.

Sophie was sitting at a small table typing away on her hacktop. She looked up as Alice approached and smiled. "Good morning," she said. "You want some coffee?"

"Please." Alice stared out at the ocean as Sophie reached for a decorative pot in front of her. She closed her eyes as she inhaled the air once again.

"It's beautiful here, isn't it?"

Alice opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder at Sophie. "If you overlook the fact that Sybil Griffiths is down the hall, then yes. It is beautiful." She sat down at the table and picked up the coffee mug Sophie had placed there.

"Speaking of Sybil, you two were talking for hours last night." Sophie closed down her computer. "I waited up as long as I could but jet lag finally got me. Did she give you anything useful?"

"Oh yes." Alice took a sip of her coffee. "It turns out that it's not her husband, but rather her brother-in-law. Her husband's twin brother."

Sophie's mouth fell open. "You're joking."

"I wish. According to Sybil, he is the worst of the worst. Everything despicable Margot and Rhys has ever done pales in comparison to him. And they wouldn't know what to do because they don't know they even have an uncle. Sybil and her husband shielded them from him while they were growing up."

Alice saw the doubt on Sophie's face as she sipped her coffee. "I know, I know. Should we trust her? A part of me says no, but I saw one thing on her face that I really never saw on Margot or Rhys'."

"What's that?"

Alice rose from her seat and looked out from the terrace. She took another sip of her coffee before responding.

"Fear."

#

Sophie and Alice made their way downstairs to find Tilda waiting for them in the foyer. She wore a pink sundress with an oversized hat tucked underneath her arm. "Ladies. Good morning," she said, waving them towards the back doors. "Refé and Anji prepared a nice little spread for everyone out on the gazebo. Your associate is already outside."

Sophie gave her a smile of thanks as Alice looked upstairs. "Where are Tessa and Sybil?"

"I'm heading up to check on those two now." Tilda laughed as she stepped past them to the stairs. She stopped at the foot and turned around. "Knowing Tessa, she probably kept her grandmother up all night wrangling stories out of her about the firm or her mother and uncle and how those brats were back in the day. Don't you worry. I'll send her along shortly."

Tilda kept a smile on her face as Alice and Sophie made their way to the back doors. It quickly disappeared when she sprinted upstairs and down a side hall to one of two bedroom doors facing each other. She frowned as she noted the door to her left was slightly ajar. "Sybil, are you decent?" she asked, pushing it open and stepping. "Your guests are already downstairs getting -"

The sight before her brought her to silence and a stop. Tessa sat on the edge of the bed, sadly looking up at her.

#

The Hammer gave Alice a quizzical look. "So, our primary mission is complete. What do we do now?"

Alice gave a buttered croissant in her hand a bite and set it down on the plate in front of her. "I really don't think running a con will work anymore. We have to find this Oliver Griffiths and turn him over to the proper authorities."

"But everything hinges on turning _Rhys_ over. Not his uncle." Sophie looked over at Alice. "It will take a lot to convince Special Agent Diaz that he's a bigger fish."

"Then we need to do what we are trained to do. Investigate," countered Alice. "I want you in your laptop and plugged into Interpol, Scotland Yard, MI6, Russian Bratva, Anonymous, anything that has any information on Oliver Griffiths."

Sophie nodded. "Lot of territory to cover. Do you have some sort of starting point?"

"Turkey." Alice noticed Tilda walked outside onto the terrace followed closely by Tessa. Instead of joining them, they appeared to engage in a heated conversation. "Sybil said he lost his eye there while he was holed up in prison.

Tilda and Tessa walked up onto the gazebo. "Hi," said Alice. "Did you sleep well? Where's your grandmother?"

"Gone." Tessa tossed Alice a letter. "She wrote this letter and left sometime in the middle of the night. Took her hidden henchmen as well. Did you scare her off?"

"Of course not. If she's scared of anyone now, it's her brother-in-law."

Tessa gave her a questioning look as Alice opened the letter and scanned its contents. "Brother-in-law?"

Alice smiled. "This seems to be the year where new members of your family come out of the woodwork. The man in Los Angeles isn't your grandfather. He is her brother-in-law. Your late grandfather's twin brother. He … he's a threat."

"If Oliver Griffiths is back, I'd say he is." Tilda poured herself a cup of coffee from a pot at the side bar. "Sybil shot him the day before she gave birth to Margot. He never forgave her for that."

Alice felt a sense of uneasiness. She swallowed it down and held up the letter. "This says that the Griffiths owned a small apartment in Italy, Tilda. Know anything about that?"

"It was originally a vacation spot when Sybil and Trevor were starting out." Tilda reached behind the bar and pulled a flask from a shelf. She unscrewed the top and poured the contents into her coffee. "I know the kids didn't have access to it. They may not even know of it, but it may be possible that he did."

Alice nodded. "I think it's time we start heading in the direction of home anyway. Can you get us there?"

"Of course." Tilda smiled. "Sybil left instructions for me to help you in any way I can. Only thing I ask is for a little … _discretion_ once we hit the States."

Alice's eyes narrowed. "Discretion?"

"Let's just say that I prefer to avoid any … law enforcement entanglements. But I'll help in any way I can, of course."

Alice smiled.

"Of course."

#

Valerie walked out into AVI's lobby and gave Ethan a smile and handshake. "Ethan."

"Hi, Val. Sorry for the late call but I come bearing gifts. A bit of news to share with you and Ben. Is he around?"

"I'll take you to him. I need to see what's going on anyway." She gestured to the elevator and they stepped inside. Val pressed the button for the sub basement levels and the doors closed.

Ethan began speaking. "Is Alice alright?"

"She sent me a text saying they landed in the Maldives yesterday morning at six our time. Non-extradition country. We didn't want to risk any information being leaked so we decided beforehand that she would pass any information only to me. And she's not alone. Tessa, Sophie, and our newest associate from our security group went with her."

Ethan shoved his hands into his pockets and turned to face her. "Well, I'm glad she's safe and sound, but it's strange how my plane made it to the Maldives without my pilot."

Val looked over at him. "Wait, what?"

"A New York hospital called and told me that he was knocked unconscious at JFK the other day. I spoke to him a hour ago. He said it was a … a little old lady." He shook his head. "He's fine and out of the hospital getting ready to check into a five-star hotel until he's well enough to travel."

Val placed a reassuring hand on his arm. "I'm sorry about your pilot, but I think what had happened was a cutout was used. After all, Sybil knows we all have an axe to grind with her. She was so secretive preparing for Alice to fly to wherever she was anyway." She smiled. "If something really bad had happened, Alice would have told me."

Ethan sighed as the car came to a stop. "Okay. As long as you know Alice is fine, I guess I'll make my pilot happy by treating him to a few days at the Waldorf."

"And flying him back first class?"

They both laughed as they stepped off the elevator. "Hey, where are we going?" queried Ethan.

"A few buildings over. Ben and a few others we have helping us are holed up in a building attached to this block."

"Wow. A bit Ocean's Eleven, huh?"

Valerie nodded. "We didn't want everyone coming in and out of AVI throughout the day. And the FBI controls the parking garage for everyone's protection. By the way. Agent Diaz has no idea that Alice is out of the country, so keep that on the DL."

"Gotcha."

#

Ben paced in front of the dry erase board. "So Rhys is thinking the same thing pretty much everyone else is. That Trevor Griffiths is alive."

Troy nodded. He sat at the table eating a breakfast sandwich. "I didn't think it was possible to spook him. He told me how he reacted when you two thought your FBI informant status was compromised. I don't think that compared to how he was when Reggie showed him the picture."

Ben sighed and looked over at Danny. "Any word from Aldrick Shive?"

"No. I asked Agent Shawn and a few from our security wing to start looking. I'm trying to plug this guy into our facial recognition software?"

"And? Anything?"

Danny looked down at his laptop. "Let's just say it would be faster if Sophie was here. I'm sorry, Ben. I'll get it figured out."

"I know you will, Danny. I have faith." Ben looked behind him at the door opening and Valerie entered followed by -

"Ethan." He stared at the developer and Alice's ex-fiancé for several seconds before he felt Troy and Danny's eyes on him. He hastily crossed over and shook Ethan's hand. "It's great to see you."

"Ben." If Ethan noticed the tension, he did not show it. "Valerie wanted to show me your new headquarters set up here."

Both men belatedly realized their hands were still clasped. They laughed and disengaged as Valerie stepped past to walk over to Danny. Ben offered Ethan one of the seats at the table.

"I never got a chance to thank you for flying me and my family out of the city two months ago," he said, sitting down beside them. "You placed yourself at a lot of risk that day. It won't be forgotten."

"Ben, you saved me from a corrupted employee in my company and a few years in prison. Consider us even." He gestured to Val. "Between me and Valerie, we know Alice and her group are safe and sound. That's the main thing. The next thing is to keep them safe."

"Well, the leader of one of the crime families in L.A. is looking for a man who is believed to be the founder of the Kensington Firm. A man who should be dead." Ben pointed at the picture of the man from the park. "He's throwing a wrench in our con to bring Rhys down."

"The saving grace is that Rhys is completely besides himself because he thinks this man is his father, Trevor Griffiths," said Troy. "But he was said to have died in 2002."

"Guys, I have Alice," said Val. She spun the laptop around to face Ben and Ethan showing an image of Alice on the screen. Ben noticed she was wearing one of his t-shirts on the screen.

"What time is it over there?" queried Ethan.

Ben looked at his watch. "They're twelve hours ahead, and it's nearly 10 PM here, so it's nearly 10 AM over there." He looked at the screen and smiled.

"You okay?"

Alice smiled back. "I'm fine. We're all fine. I don't have a lot of time but I have a lot to tell you guys."

Ethan leaned in close. "Like how my plane made it to the other side of the planet without my pilot?"

"Ethan." Alice grinned sheepishly. "Well, that in itself is another story. Is he okay?"

"He's fine." Ethan glanced over at Ben. "A few days of spa treatments and that should cause some amnesia for what happened at JFK."

Alice nodded. "Well, I spoke to Sybil at great lengths yesterday and showed her the video."

"So it's her husband after all?" queried Val.

Alice shook her head. "I'm afraid not. He is but yet another member of the Griffiths-Bishop bloodline. Oliver William Griffiths. Trevor's twin brother and the uncle Margot and Rhys doesn't know about."

The silence in the small office was overwhelming. "Twin brother? I never had a clue," whispered Ben.

"According to Sybil, the Griffiths boys never got along," stated Alice. "Sybil shot him the day before she gave birth to Margot. That was one of the last times she ever saw him."

Alice held up several sheets of paper showing internet news clippings. "Sophie couldn't find anything in terms of a rap sheet on him with Interpol, but Anonymous sent back a dark web file listing a series of hits taking place all throughout the U.K. and Russia starting in the early 1980's. For almost two decades he went by the moniker, "The Older." Possibly a play on the fact that he's the oldest by seven minutes."

"Wow." Troy listened with rapt attention from the other side of the table, behind the laptop. "The Older. Something I never heard about."

Alice made a show of glancing up as if hearing a noise offscreen. "Who is that?"

"Our human hard drive is processing information," replied Ben. "Anything else useful?"

"Only that Margot and Rhys does not have what it takes to deal with him," said Alice. "Trevor Griffiths saw a dark side in his brother, which was why he never brought him into the firm or meet his children."

"Then we have to assume that the firm is what he's after. His birthright." Ben leaned in closed. "When are you coming home?"

"We're leaving Humhumalé in about a hour but first we're stopping in Italy. The Griffiths own an apartment there. Might worth checking out to see if we can find more information on Oliver."

Ben shook his head. "I don't like it, Al. If he is like you say -"

Alice smirked. "You know with me on the other side of the planet, if I put my mind to something, I'm going to do it, right?"

Ben gave her a rueful smile. "It was worth a shot."

Alice smiled back. "Sophie has a ton of other information to piece together so we're going to do that on the plane ride to Italy."

"Allie." Ethan leaned into the camera. "Who is piloting my plane? Travis said some older woman knocked him out. And by older, I mean the same age as his grandmother."

Alice grimaced. "Yeah, about her. She's Sybil Griffiths' oldest friend and a founding member of the firm. Don't worry. She won't hurt a fly."

"Al, she knocked out my pilot and had him hog-tied in a maintenance locker."

Before she could reply, her attention was diverted offscreen. She looked over to the side for several seconds and nodded. "I have to go. Our car will be here in twenty minutes to take us to the airport."

Ben nodded. "You be careful."

Alice nodded and held her hand against the screen. Ben did the same and held it there for several seconds until the screen went to black.

#

With suitcase in hand, Alice descended the stairs to find Sophie awaiting her at the bottom with a grim expression on her face. "Sophie? What's wrong?"

Sophie held out a folded piece of paper. "Anonymous sent me another file. Several recent, low level hits took place throughout Germany. Several media outlets identified "The Older" as the culprit."

Alice set her suitcase down and took the paper. "Anything we missed?"

Sophie pursed her lips. "You could say that."

Alice carefully scanned the paper, her eyes widening with the passing of every second. Finally she sighed and balled the paper up in her hands.

"You have got to be kidding me."

Sophie nodded. "Three children. Two daughters and son. Mother was an American. Her status is unknown."

"The children?"

"Anastasia, the oldest, is in her late thirties and is vigilantly following in her family's footsteps as an all around classic Griffiths hellion. The middle child, Katherine, is wanted for a list of crimes in several countries across the U.K. and Africa."

"And the son?"

Sophie smiled. "He may be the black sheep of the family. Christian is a Rhodes scholar. Currently studying in Venice. No record that I can find."

Alice brightened. "And the apartment is where in Italy?"

"Venice."

Alice smiled.

"This just keeps getting better and better."

#

Aldrick Shive finished his martini and slid the glass away from him. "Kayla, let me get a shot of Patroń Silver. Chilled, and I'll settle up with you."

The brunette nodded and began preparing the concoction as Shive fished a hundred dollar bill from a stack of cash secured in a platinum money clip. He laid the money on the bar beside his phone just as it vibrated for attention. He looked at the name on the screen and picked it up to answer.

"What do you have, Tony?"

"We haven't been able to track this guy down at all, but I think I got something. One of the guys called and said he might have been spotted at that new club downtown. Trendy spot. I think the name is Jade."

Shive frowned. He glanced out of the window to his right at the crowded scene across the street. A line of people waited behind a velvet rope barrier outside a brightly lit three-story building.

"Jade? I'm practically looking at the place right now. How long ago was this?"

"Twenty minutes, a half hour."

The bartender slid a shot glass in front of him and picked up the money. Shive ignored it all as he continued to stare outside. "Get a couple of guys and meet me there in ten minutes. We need to find this guy."

Shive disconnected the call up at the bartender as she set a fresh martini in front of him. He reached for the shot and downed the contents. "Kayla, I didn't order this," he said, indicating the martini.

The bartender pointed behind Shive into the restaurant area. "British guy ordered it for you. Tall, handsome, patch over his left eye."

Shive fought to contain his surprise. He slowly looked over his left shoulder and saw his quarry sitting in a booth in the far corner facing him. He smiled and held up a glass of beer in a toast.

Shive returned the smile and held up his martini in a return gesture. He hesitated for a second before rising to his feet and walking over to the table. "Thank you for the drink. I was actually getting ready to leave. I'm meeting several of my friends at another spot."

The man chuckled as he slid around the booth until he was at the end. "Oh, please, Mr. Shive. Let's drop the act. You have been scouring the city for hours looking for me. I found it hard to take a minute for myself in the loo." He took a sip of his beer and set the glass down before gesturing for Shive to take a seat. "Anyway. Here I am, good lad. Sit. Sit."

Shive glanced around the restaurant area and noted it was empty, save a blonde waitress in the corner rolling silverware at a table next to a passageway leading to a back entrance. He slid into the booth at the other end the man indicated. "You can make this very easy on yourself by coming with me. No one will do you any harm. You have my word."

The man smiled as he reached inside his jacket. Shive tensed until he pulled out a telephone and thumbed it on. "I'm sure that's the case now, Aldrick. You left your weapon in your car. Meanwhile, your man Gunner … he tried to convince me otherwise."

He slid the phone over to Shive. Shive picked it, stunned at the sight of one of his men sitting in his car. A stream of blood oozed from his temple.

The man held his empty glass in the air. The waitress at the table saw the move and rose to walk out to the bar. "And then there was Davis. That bloke, he was _huge!_ Took some work to bring him down. Cole, Jones - my word, it was a productive day today!"

Shive tossed the phone on the table. "I guess the easy way is out then."

The man waited until the waitress arrived with a fresh pint of beer for him and departed with his empty glass. "Dear boy, it was out the second I set foot in this God forsaken country. But it's not your fault. I wanted to meet with you personally so that we can possibly make some sort of deal."

Shive leaned forward slightly. "Deal?"

"Yes. A deal. You see, I am in need of a few trained individuals to help me with a bit of work here in the city."

In spite of himself, Shive could feel his interest piqued. "What kind of work?"

The man slid over into the booth until he was back in the middle where he originally sat and leaned in close. "The kind of work that will get you everything you could ever want. Revenge against the Griffiths for the brutal, senseless murder of your brother."

"If I bring you in, I'm a step closer to that," said Shive. "Why do I want to start over?"

"Because deep down inside, you want to see the Kensington Firm destroyed forever," the man said. His tone took a soft, but menacing turn. "I want the very same thing."

Shive stared into the man's good eye for a handful of heartbeats before he smiled and finally took a drink of his martini. "Maybe you haven't heard of me. I'm not like my younger brother. I'm not like my father. They're both where they are now because they didn't look over their shoulder or around the corner."

He pushed the martini glass away and slid to his feet. "I said I would bring you in with your head attached," he muttered as he jabbed a finger at the man. "Touch another one of my associates again and I'll make sure I will be the last thing you see before I pluck your good eye out with a screwdriver."

He turned for the rear exit, nearly bumping into the blonde waitress as she stepped out of a sideroom. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said as he pulled out two hundred dollar bills and held them between two fingers. "Could you make sure the gentlemen's tab is taken care of? I need to make a phone call."

Instead of accepting the money, the woman jabbed something sharp in the side of Shive's neck. The motion was so quick that he only felt a small prick against his skin. His hand went up to his neck. "What the hell?"

The woman simply smiled as she held up a syringe in his rapidly spinning vision. "I think you should be dropping to the floor right about …"

The money slowly fluttered to the floor as Shive suddenly fell to his knees, crawling weakly for purchase against the wall. He managed to grab the waitress' apron, but she easily slapped it away. He raised his chin to stare up at the woman with a blank look in his eyes before crumpling to the floor in a heap, unconscious.

The waitress lowered herself to a crouch and checked Shive's pupils and his pulse for several seconds before picking up the money lying a foot away. She looked at the bills in mock disgust, aware of footsteps coming to a halt behind her.

"Two hundred dollars," she said, glancing up over her shoulder. "Like this would even _begin_ to pay for your tab. You had him thinking you put in some kind of work today, didn't you? I'm _tired_ of you doing that. You made him think you did all that work when instead you've been drinking since this morning!"

Oliver Griffiths burped as he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. "I said it was a productive day, Anastasia dear. I just didn't say _who_ was productive."

He pushed himself off the wall with a grunt and reached down to help his daughter up. "Right. Let's get this poor bloke in the car and get me to the pad so I get some sleep. We got a big day tomorrow."

Anastasia Griffiths gave her father a wicked smile.

"Right you are, Father. I just love family reunions."

#


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Ben stirred in the bed as the first rays of sunshine shone through the window. He blinked the sleep from his eyes as he stretched instinctively for the other side of the bed and …

He sat up with a start and grinned ruefully to himself, realizing that he was the only occupant of the bed and his fiancée was half a world away. He ran his fingers through his hair as he swung his legs out of the bed and rose to his feet, heading to the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, freshly showered and dressed, Ben walked into Alice's kitchen and began making himself a pot of coffee. Once his homemade mix started brewing, he opened the refrigerator to scour for something to eat when the house phone began ringing for attention. He connected the call.

"Hello?"

"Ben, it's Valerie. Are you by a television or computer?"

Ben moved to the eating area and opened his laptop. "I'm turning on my computer now, Val. What's wrong?"

"Bring up KTTV's website."

Ben keyed the television station's callsign into the search bar. The site came up almost immediately, highlighting different stories of the local, national, and international variety.

The largest story in the center of the small screen caught his eye. He scanned it for several seconds before he forgot Valerie was still on the phone. He slowly brought the phone to his ear.

"Val, where are you?"

"I'm heading into the office now."

"Good. I'll see you there in thirty minutes. I need to call Reggie, and I'll also call Margot and Danny to meet us there."

His eyes locked on the banner headline before him.

 _CRIME LORD FOUND MURDERED_

"It's time we all had a serious talk."

#

Margot read the internet posting on the conference room monitor for several seconds. "Well, so much for looking two steps ahead," she said, shrugging as she turned around.

"Margot, this is serious." Ben looked across the table at Valerie and Danny. "We know you personally asked Aldrick Shive to look for the man who you think is your father."

"Yes, I did." Margot started to sit at the head of the table but a withering look from Val changed her mind. She sat down in a seat across from Val and turned to Ben. "The question that comes to mind is how did you know."

"Because he came here and told me. He wasn't sure what you wanted him for, so Shive tracked me down. Why were you trying to chase him down on your own?"

"Maybe I wanted to personally hand him an invitation to Tessa's graduation. Maybe I wanted him to help me pick out a floral pattern." Margot narrowed her eyes as she glared at Ben. "Why were _you_ trying to chase him down?"

Ben gestured past Margot at the monitor. "To prevent you in your usual Kensington Firm style from going to do something crazy that could possibly escalate into something like … _this."_

Offended, Margot started to retort but Danny broke in before she could speak. "Margot, Alice contacted us last night with some news about the man you think is your father."

Margot glared hard at Ben for several more seconds before turning her gaze to Danny. "And you felt you couldn't tell me last night? Or was page nineteen in that book I brought back from India distracting?"

Danny reddened in the face as Valerie grimaced in mild disgust. Ben simply shook his head. "We asked Danny not to tell you until we looked into it further, but this can't be a coincidence. Margot, that man isn't your father."

Margot slapped her palm on the table. "Well then, if he isn't dear ol' Dad, then who the hell is he, Ben? Because every picture I've seen of him bears an uncanny resemblance."

Ben nodded. "He's your father's twin brother. Your uncle."

Margot rolled her eyes. "I have no uncle."

"Sybil said your father and uncle never got along growing up. That was why you never knew about him because your parents wanted to protect you and Rhys from him. "

Valerie slid a folder over to Margot. "It took some digging in the dark web but Sophie found files on him as well as his daughters and son. Your cousins."

Margot opened the folder and slowly scanned the documents inside. "I have cousins?"

Valerie nodded. "Yes, and based on what I read, I can tell you all are definitely related."

Ben tapped the folder with a single finger. "Based on what's there as well as the fact that Oliver Griffiths is already in town, we have to assume that he killed Shive. Which means he knows about you and Rhys."

Margot sat back in her chair, staring at an invisible spot on the far wall. "We're hell bent on taking Rhys down. I know you are looking after my interests but who is looking after Rhys?"

"I have that covered."

#

Alice looked around the spacious hotel suite she and her companions were ushered into. She nodded as she turned to Sophie. "This will do nicely."

Sophie turned to the bellhop, expressing her approval in Italian as she handed him several euros and led him to the door. Tilda, seated on a couch massaging her right calf muscle, watched in amazement.

"She can speak Italian?"

Alice smiled. "Sophie is one of a kind. She has a law degree, knows several languages, magnificent with computers, and from what I heard can also strum a mean ukulele."

Sophie's mouth fell open. "Kelsey told you?!"

Alice simply smiled as the Hammer exited one of the four side rooms. "The suite appears to be secure," he said.

Alice nodded as she turned back to Tilda. "How far are we from the apartment?"

"Three blocks, I believe." Tilda handed her a folded piece of paper. "Here's the address."

"Good. We're close." Alice glanced at the time on her cell phone. "It's still early," she said as she slid it into her back pocket and reached for her purse.

"Going somewhere?" queried Tilda.

Alice nodded. "Sophie and I are going for a drink. Preferably at a location close to the apartment where we can keep an eye on it for about an hour or two."

Tessa smiled as she stepped out of one of the side rooms. "Perfect. I am certainly thirsty."

Alice frowned. "Uh, Tessa …"

"Please, stepmummy, stop smothering me. Unlike your gathering of colonies across the pond, it's actually legal for me here to imbibe in a glass of wine."

Alice shot a glance at Sophie who shrugged. "Sixteen is the minimum drinking age in Italy."

"Which I turned last month, but we were in the middle of a move and Mum wasn't much for celebrating." Tessa crossed her arms as she regarded the two older women. "Come on! I have been the perfect soldier during this trip! What is one glass of wine going to do?"

Alice carefully considered her words. She finally sighed. "I think it will be too dangerous for now, Tessa," she decided. "But I promise you and I will do something later, okay?"

Instead of answering, Tessa turned and walked back into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Alice sighed and looked down at Tilda. "Watch her, please. She tends to put out mob hits over the internet."

Tilda laughed. "I heard all about that."

Alice then turned to the Hammer. He stood at the suite door with his hands crossed in front if him. "You'll watch _both_ of them, please?"

The Hammer bowed at the waist. "Of course. And send word to me when you make contact."

"I have Christian Griffiths' IED class schedule, so we should know when he goes in and out. I just took a look at it and he should be getting out of his evening class in about a hour."

"IED?"

" _Istituto Europeo di Design Venice._ Apparently the youngest of Oliver Griffiths' children is bigger on education than his sisters. "

Alice shot a look at Tessa's bedroom door. "There is hope for the younger generation, I suppose."

#

Sitting in the sitting area of the Weatherby's bar, Rhys enjoyed a vodka martini while laughing at the video playing on his small tablet. "Ah, the joy a cat video gives a tortured soul," he mused.

He set the tablet down next to him in his seat and took another sip of his drink. He pulled the glass away from his lips and set it on the glass table beside him when an eerie feeling overcame him.

A feeling like he was being watched.

He frowned and considered his options. Liking none available, he slowly turned in his seat as his hand reached for the pistol underneath his jacket.

The motion halted just as his fingers brushed against the pistol grip, his eyes widening in surprise as they focused on the figure behind him. He shot to his feet, straightening his jacket as he did so.

"Benji!"

Ben stood several feet away wearing an impassive expression on his face. His hands were slightly spread to his sides as an indication that he was unarmed. "Rhys."

The two men stood looking at each other for a long minute until Rhys realized this was not going to be a heartfelt reunion. "How are Margot and Tessa?"

Ben shook his head. "Don't stand there thinking you can convince me that you actually give a damn about them, Rhys. If you did, you wouldn't had betrayed me."

"I do, Benji. I really do." Rhys indicated for Ben to take a seat across from his. Ben hesitated at first but eventually stepped past Rhys and sat down.

Rhys followed suit and stared at Ben. "There hasn't been a single day in the past two months where I haven't replayed our last conversation at least once. How you were going to come after me."

Ben nodded. "Same here, Rhys. Same here."

Rhys chuckled. "I can just imagined the motley mob you would scrape together. Let's see. I know Alice wants my head so that's one. And I can assume she would have the full arsenal of AVI at her disposal?"

Ben remained silent.

"If it was anyone else, I would simply laugh, but seeing how she knocked Mum and Margot down a peg or two, I'm deathly afraid." Rhys gave a rueful smile as he shook his head.

"Obviously you're planning the con of all cons. And you step out into the spotlight … for what? What is it that caused you to step away from the shadows and pause your master plan to come talk to me today?"

Ben reached into his pocket and flung a picture on the table between them. Rhys caught it before it fell off the edge. He held it up for a closer look and laughed.

"I swear, Benji, to pay someone to look like my father … I didn't think I deserve all this." He flung the picture back on the table. "You need to do better."

"Oh, this is coming from someone who hired Tommy Vaughan to intercede on his behalf as "Mockingbird?" Ben reached for the picture. "Who's been watching too many heist movies?"

He held up the picture. "I need you to believe me when I tell you that this man isn't your father."

Rhys snorted as he raised his drink. "No doubt there."

"He's your uncle."

The drink stopped less than a millimeter from Rhys' lips. He quickly recovered and set the drink down as he emitted a soft chuckle. "Nice try, Benji," he said, smiling as he pointed a finger at Ben. "That's actually pretty original."

Ben sighed. "His name is Oliver Griffiths. He's your father's older brother by seven minutes. The reason you and Margot never heard of him was because he is dangerous times ten, and that range was set while they were growing up. Sybil haven't had any kind of interaction with him since before Margot was born."

He leaned forward in his chair to drive the point home. "Margot wanted to find this guy to possibly kill him, so she commissioned Aldrick Shive for that purpose. Did you hear what happened to him sometime last night?"

Rhys drew a blank look. "What?"

"He's dead, Rhys. Killed and body left in his car behind a club downtown. The man who was looking for your uncle ends up dead? This can't be a coincidence."

Rhys sat back in his seat, absorbing the news for a long minute. "Let's say I believe you and that this one-eyed Cyclops is my uncle," he said finally. "My question is why did you stop your con to warn me? You miss your ol' buddy Rhys?"

Ben slid the picture in his jacket as he rose. "Rhys, I can never forgive you for what you did. Your greed, your carelessness, your _selfishness_ jeopardized my freedom. Your actions nearly caused your own sister and niece to be arrested. You caused a lot of harm."

He sighed. "But from the information we gathered, Oliver Griffiths is a man not to be underestimated. He may not care that as even though you are not only blood relatives but also the legitimate heirs to the Kensington Firm, he may see you and Margot as rivals who need to be eliminated. I don't want that."

Rhys looked up at Ben. "What do you propose?"

"I propose that we put our current issues aside and work together to take him down."

"I see." Rhys finished his drink and set the glass down on the table before standing. "So good ol' Benji is looking out for his friend after all? In that case, let's let bygones be bygones with a handshake. What do you say?"

He stretched out his hand to Ben. Ben stared at it for a handful of heartbeats without taking it, his expression hardening. He reached into his jacket, causing Rhys to tense at the motion.

"Make no mistake. When we settle this business with your uncle, I will finish what I started. I will take you down." Ben withdrew his hand and flung a business card on the table beside the nearly empty glass. "But if you are serious and want to take him down before he takes you down, my number is on the card."

He stared at Rhys for several seconds before turning for the exit. Rhys watched him until he disappeared from sight before he sat down, staring at the card he had left behind. Sighing, he reached for his glass and downed its contents before signaling for a waiter.

While he waited, he pulled his phone from a jacket pocket and dialed a number. "It's me," he said. "If they show back up, make sure Troy and that clean headed wanker … I can't think of his name - make sure they are both escorted off of the premises. Unharmed, but off the premises immediately. They are no longer welcomed."

He paused while the waiter deposited a fresh martini and stepped away with the empty glass before continuing. "Effective immediately, I will be moving operations to the penthouse suite at the Weatherby. I want the entire section closed off and guards on the floor around the clock."

He disconnected the call and finally reached for the card. He turned it over and again between his fingers as he smiled.

"Ah, Benji," he said. "No matter what, you know you still care."

#

Alice and Sophie sat at a table outside a small Italian eatery watching the evening crowd pass by. Alice sipped on a glass of bourbon while Sophie worked on a computer tablet. Her glass of merlot remained untouched.

"Christian is the only one of Oliver Griffiths' children who has any kind of online presence, or a legal one at that," she said. "Based on his class curriculum, he may be studying fashion or art."

"Soph, put that down and take a sip of your wine. You have been at it nonstop since the Maldives."

Sophie placed her tablet down on the table. "Sorry. Once I get going on research, it's hard to stop."

"Which makes you special and one of a kind." Alice smiled. "By the way, I never thanked you for joining our little getaway. I know you have misgivings about the whole situation but I'm glad you came along."

Sophie returned the smile but did not respond. Alice leaned in slightly. "Where are we on the leaving part? Are you still thinking about going someplace else?"

Sophie smiled. "I don't know. I suppose if I stayed in Los Angeles with Valerie back at AVI, I would have probably been out of there by now. Here at least I know I am safe with you and the Hammer. Even Tilda to a certain extent. Scary thought, but true."

"Soph, the thought of losing you on a personal or professional level sickens me, but whatever decision you make, Valerie and I will respect it. I just hope you know that if you decide to leave, there's always a place for you at AVI."

Sophie smiled. "Thank you, Alice. That means a lot to me. It really does."

Alice nodded and reached for her glass but stopped when she noticed a young man walking towards them. He wore skinny jeans and a blue, sleeveless jacket over a red t-shirt. A fitted cap and backpack slung over his right shoulder completed his ensemble.

Alice cleared her throat and gestured with her glass. Sophie surreptitiously gave a sideways glance as the young man closed in.

The young man had headphones covering his ears as he strolled past, oblivious to the scrutiny he was receiving from Alice as his focus was in his phone in his hand. She watched him stop at a door leading into a four story building two doors down from where Alice and Sophie sat.

Sophie frowned. "I thought he lived around the corner," she whispered.

Before Alice could respond, the door opened and a dark-haired woman stepped out, shrugging on a jacket. She walked up to the young man and laughingly gave him an embrace and kiss.

Alice slipped Sophie her handbag. "I want you to go back to the hotel," she said as she slid out of her chair. "Have the Hammer get ready."

Alice rose and walked down to the couple who continued to stand outside of the apartment building. She slowed her pace as she closed on them and stopped several feet away.

"Christian Griffiths?"

The man turned around and gave her a wary look. He reached for the woman's hand and grasped it tightly. "Who's asking?"

"Forgive me." Alice held up her hands in a peaceful gesture as she took a step forward. "My name is Alice Vaughan. I'm chief investigator and co-owner of Anderson and Vaughan Investigations. It's a corporate and private security firm based in Los Angeles."

"Los Angeles?" Griffiths glanced over Alice's shoulder at the cluster of tables he had past moments earlier. "You came a long way for a glass of bourbon, Miss Vaughan."

Alice smiled. "The bourbon isn't why I'm here, Christian. I'm here about Oliver William Griffiths."

At the mention of his father's name, the young girl gave Christian a curious look. "Baby, who is that? A cousin who owes you money?"

Alice's eyes locked with Christian's, and she saw something in them she did not expect to see. "Actually, it's another matter involving the passing of a family member located in the U.S.," she said as she gave the woman a kind smile. "We're hoping Mr. Griffiths can shed some light in the location of other cousins per the estate's request."

Christian's expression softened slightly as he gave Alice a nod. "This seems pretty serious, Marie," he said to his companion. "Why don't you go ahead to the party? I'll give Miss Vaughan whatever information she needs and meet you in a hour or so, okay?"

The girl pouted but reached up to give him a peck on his cheek. "Don't be all night," she said. Giving Alice a cautious glance, she slid out of Christian's grasp and walked alone down the street.

Christian watched her departure for several seconds before turning back to Alice. "Thank you, Miss Vaughan," he said. The relief was evident in his tone. "You obviously know about my father, but she doesn't need to."

His gaze turned back to where Marie stopped at the street corner. "She doesn't need to know anything about him."

#

Reviewing reports on her couch in her office, Valerie looked up as Agent Jules Dao entered her office. She smiled and waved him to a spot beside her. "And to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

Dao sat down on the couch. "I thought I'd come by and share with you that the FBI has taken over the investigation into the murder of Aldrick Shive. He took over the organization after we arrested his father for that embassy heist a few months ago."

Valerie drummed her pen on her knee as if in deep thought. "And let me guess. You're lead on the investigation?"

Dao gave her a toothy grin. "It only makes sense because they have been on my radar for three years. I have extensive files on numerous crime organizations here in L.A. Agent Diaz is sitting with the lead prosecutor into her estranged husband's case, so it appears I'll be heading up the Shive case as well as Ben's operation."

Valerie placed her binder on the table. "How's the investigation going?"

The grin disappeared, replaced by a troubled look as he rose and slowly paced around the office. "Not good. We brought in the small timers. Entry-level. They all said that his organization may have already been absorbed by another. The man is not even frozen solid in the morgue and someone is already making moves."

"And that's not all. Several other smaller factions may have also been consolidated. The Gundersons. The Hunts. The Titan Group. All under one person."

Dao turned back to Valerie. "I have a feeling that something big is going to happen, and it will happen very soon. Is Alice here?"

"She's following up a lead, but I'll give her the news."

Dao nodded as he headed for the door. "Then I need to speak with Ben downstairs. He may be to help - _Le voilà."_

Ben entered the office. "Agent Dao. What's going on?"

Dao nodded "I'm glad you're here, Ben. We need to talk."

Ben glanced at Valerie. The neutral expression her face displayed told him that everything they had concealed from Dao remained hidden. "About?"

Dao gestured to an empty seat. "I need to pick your brain."

#

Alice looked around the spacious living room of Christian's apartment. "I was told that the family has owned this place since your father was very young."

Christian walked out of the kitchen with two glasses in his hands. "You probably know about this apartment more than I do. My sisters lived here until about three years ago. When I decided to go to school here, Katherine, the second oldest, she gave me the keys."

Alice peered through the blinds of the bay window. "Well I understand why the family kept it all this time. The view is spectacular. Breathtaking."

Christian handed Alice one of the glasses. "I'm not big on bourbon. I hope whiskey is okay."

"It's fine, thank you." Alice took a sip as she watched Christian sit down in a recliner. "I just have a question to ask, if that's okay."

Christian leaned forward. "How did I know you were drinking bourbon?"

Alice took a seat on a leather couch across from him. "When I spotted you on the street, you were all into your phone and pretty oblivious to everything."

"Because you spotted me late. Me, I spotted you seconds before." He sat back and swallowed the contents of his glass in one gulp before setting it down. "For years, my father had one rule that he constantly drummed into me and my sisters. Always look around a corner before you go around a corner. Now even though I have been the good little son, I also know I'm the good little son of a very terrible man who would love to snatch me up to get back at him for whatever reason."

He dug into his chair and pulled out a small pistol which he aimed it at Alice with a calm, relaxed demeanor. "It doesn't take a genius to know that you're here to put the screws to him and you want to use me to do that, Miss Vaughan."

Alice said nothing. Instead of showing terror in her eyes, she offered Christian a kind smile as she sipped her drink. "I assure you that's not the case," she said.

Christian frowned as he adjusted the grip on his weapon. "Well I didn't make it this long trusting every beautiful woman who walks up to me, so now I have to decide whether or not to let you walk out of here."

Alice leaned forward and sat her drink on the coffee table. "I have another choice for you. Put the gun down so that we can talk like civilized adults before one of us gets hurt. And I assure you that it won't be me."

Christian gave her an incredulous look. "Uh, you do realize … I have a gun on you, right?"

Alice nodded, grinning from ear to ear.

"So do I." She casually pointed at his chest.

The wide-eyed look on his face slowly gave way to curiosity. His eyes bulged wide open as he saw the infra-red dot tracing a circle just over his heart. The gun he held wavered slightly as his eyes shifted back up to the woman sitting in front of him.

"I guess you have it all figured out."

"Oh I do, but let me tell you a story about the man who's aiming that little dot." said Alice. She rose and walked back over to the window she had glanced out a few moments before. Christian's eyes darted from his chest to a point where the beam slid between the blinds. "A few months ago, my company was hired to track down a man who was hired to take out your cousin Margot. Her daughter hired him. A fifteen-year-old with stolen credit cards and the Internet. Oh, let me."

She plucked the pistol from Christian's hand and worked the magazine release and slide to eject the chambered round. "Now you would think a teenager should not have any kind of ingenuity to hire _anyone,_ but what does she do? She somehow hires one of the best international killers in the world to take out her mother. He nearly succeeds and guess what? He works for me now."

She sat down on the arm of Christian's chair. "That's who is aiming that little red dot above your heart."

Grabbing Christian's glass as well as her own, Alice rose and walked over to the kitchen where the bottle of whiskey rested on the counter. She set the gun and magazine down and poured the contents into the glasses. "So believe me when I say I really mean you no harm. I simply want to talk about your father. That's all."

Christian remained still in his chair as she walked back into the living room with them. "And what assurances do I have that?"

She handed him his whiskey and pointed at his chest. "Take a look."

Christian glanced down. The red dot was gone. He stared at the spot it occupied for a long moment before looking back up at Alice.

"All right, Miss Vaughan. You have my complete and undivided attention."

#


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Rhys unbuttoned his jacket as he stepped off the elevator with the Weatherby's concierge and hotel manager. "And it's all set up for me?"

"Yes, sir." The bespectacled manager gave Rhys an enthusiastic nod as he led the two men down the hall of the hotel's penthouse suite floor. "I'm surprised you weren't made aware of it before. It was installed as a backup plan for our more security-minded guests."

Rhys gave the manager a cold glare. "Yes, how I wasn't informed about a personal elevator directly from one of the suites to the parking garage just escapes me."

The manager's stride broken slightly as he wilted under Rhys' eyes. Rhys held the look for several seconds until he grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. "Calm down, ol' chap! I'm actually happy I didn't know about it! I'm happy I didn't know because if I knew, then that sour puss of a sister of mine would have known about it also, so all's right with the world."

The concierge stopped at a set of double doors almost to the end of the hallway and fished out a key card from a pocket. He slid it into the security lock and waited until it disengaged. "After I do a quick walk through, I'll have the kitchen send something up," he said as he opened the doors and waved Rhys and the manager inside before pointing to an alcove over to the left of the entrance. "The private elevator is there next to the door connecting this suite to the one next door."

"You're a good man," said Rhys. He walked over to where the bedroom and bathroom area were. "I'll have the chaps rounded up and -

He rounded the corner and came to a halt at the sight before him. Standing on the raised floor where the king-sized bed was situated was a beautiful woman with her hands clasped behind her back smiling down at him, dressed in a blue short sleeved blouse and matching skirt. Her long, blonde hair was braided and draped over her shoulder.

A steady grin formed on Rhys' face as he slowly turned to the manager and concierge standing behind him. "I have to say this is indeed good service, boys!" he said as he rubbed his hands in glee. "And to think I didn't really want this kind of business in the hotel when I signed the papers."

The woman cleared her throat. "Cousin, cousin, cousin. That kind of talk is frowned upon, no matter what part of the world you're from." She sighed and shook her her head. "Tell me where the ledger is."

 _Cousin? Ledger?_ Rhys slowly turned back to face the woman, this time giving her a more cautious look.

"What are you talking about? Who the bloody hell are you?"

Instead of answering, the woman smiled as she pulled her hands from behind her back, revealing two small pistols with attached silencers. She brought both weapons up and began firing.

Rhys ran past the manager and concierge as their bodies fell from the swarm of bullets and out of the room just ahead of the hail of gunfire. He bounced off of the far wall and sprinted down the hallway with a speed he did not know he had, determined to make it back to the elevator.

His unspoken prayers were answered as the car they had rode a minute earlier was still stationed on the floor, doors wide open. He slipped inside and frantically pressed the DOWN button while belatedly pulling his pistol from under his jacket. He trained the weapon at the doors until they finally closed.

Rhys slumped against the far wall in a heap and slid down to the floor. He glanced down in surprise at his shaking right hand which gripped his pistol.

"Bloody hell."

#

Christian poured himself another drink. It was his third in the past thirty minutes. "Let me get this all situated in my head here because everything idea you've given sounds … _crazy."_

Alice nodded. She sat on the chocolate-covered leather couch with Sophie and Tessa. The Hammer stood in front of the apartment door in his customary pose as he kept a vigilant eye on Christian who walked back over to his recliner and sat down.

"My cousins, people whom I never met before, they tried to pinch you for your money and your company. The guy who initiated everything worked you for a year until he nearly succeeds, but not before he falls in love with you. You find out everything about him and the Kensington Firm and began to fight back, but you start falling in love with him. Again. The _real_ him."

Alice nodded again. "You're on the right path so far."

"After your declaration of love for each other, you worked to save him by taking them down, but his ex -,"

"My mum," Tessa said brightly.

"She beats everyone including my father's sister-in-law and takes control of the firm. Your man takes the rap for you for a painting planted in your house, but the FBI gives him and my other cousin a C.I. gig which goes well for a while, but in typical Griffiths fashion, my cousin used that information to solidify his position in L.A. and takes control of the firm."

Christian pointed at Tessa. "But not before you tried to have your mother killed, kidnapped her as well as your father and uncle and take the Kensington Firm for yourself."

His eyes darted over to the Hammer who continued to stand by the door with his hands crossed in front of him. "Is it true you found him on the Internet?"

Tessa shrugged. "What can I say? I'm very resourceful."

"And now you're all working together to take your uncle down, but my father is trying to throw a wrench in your plans."

Alice nodded again. She maintained a patient smile the entire time Christian was talking, but Sophie could see the beginning signs of weariness in her eyes. "I believe you got it."

"I see." Christian looked over at Sophie who sat to Alice's left, close by where the Hammer stood. "And what's your story?"

Sophie jerked a thumb in Tessa's direction. "Her partner shot me."

Christian shook his head as he finished his drink and rose to his feet. "Okay, you guys are blowing my mind, but to each his or her own. What do you want from me?"

Alice relaxed slightly at the question. "We were hoping you could give some insight into what exactly your father has planned. From what we've seen so far, it doesn't look like a joyous family reunion to me."

Christian stared at Alice in silence for several seconds as he considered her words. Finally he walked over to the kitchen counter and pulled a pad and pen close to him. "My dad and I haven't talked for a while, but I do know he pops in and out of Venice every now and then unexpectedly," he said as he scribbled on the pad. "Every couple of months I come home to a fully stocked fridge, enough money to pay my bills and live off of for months, whatever. He knows I don't need it because I've been supporting myself since I was sixteen. But he keeps doing it."

He tore the page from the pad and turned to Alice. "I know he has another apartment about seven or eight blocks from here. I've been there twice in the past year when he was in town. Whatever answers you might be looking for may be there."

Alice accepted the sheet of paper and passed it to Sophie. "Thank you, Christian. I really appreciate this."

Christian nodded and watched as the Hammer opened the door for Sophie and Tessa. He caught Alice on the arm as she turned for the exit. "Miss Vaughan?"

"Please. It's Alice."

"Alice. Listen, can I give you some advice?"

Alice gave him a confirming nod. "I don't know what my father has planned for you and your family. I don't know if my sisters are involved. I hope they aren't."

"I hope they aren't as well, Christian."

Christian nodded. He hesitated at first before continuing. "If it's just my father, you might have a chance. Just my sisters together? Maybe. They all have Type A personalities and always clash if one doesn't get his or her way but a pain in the ass if they're on the same page. Find a way to break them down and … who knows? You might get lucky."

Alice considered his words. She offered Christian a smile and her hand. "Thank you, Christian. That is some very helpful advice."

#

Sophie, Tessa, and the Hammer were waiting outside of the apartment building when Alice stepped outside. "What did dear ol' cousin had to speak to you about?" queried Tessa.

"Just giving me insight on his family," answered Alice as she checked her cell phone. The time displayed made her realize how tired she felt. "Sounds like we'll need it."

The Hammer indicated a westward direction. "If we're ready, the address we were given is that way."

"We'll check it out in the morning." Alice stifled a yawn. "Let's head back to the hotel, check in with AVI and make sure Tilda didn't empty out the mini bar."

#

Dao held up his bureau credentials to the uniformed officer waiting outside the elevator doors. "They're with me," he said, indicating Danny and Ben who stood behind him.

The officer nodded and held up the crime scene tape to allow the three men access. "The owner of the hotel said his silent partner requested for the entire floor to be cordoned off for his personal use," said Dao as he led the down the hall. "He, the concierge and the manager went to check out one of the rooms and ran into a little problem."

The men turned into a room flanked by two more officers. Danny whistled at the sight of the blood stained sheets on the floor beside the sofa.

"Three walk in. One walks out."

Dao examined the shell casings on the floor in front of the bed. "I'll give you three guesses who walked out," he said as he turned to Ben. "When were you going to tell me that the Kensington Firm bought a stake in the Weatherby hotel chain?"

"It wasn't relevant to what we were currently doing," countered Ben. "Rhys would have never come out into the open like this unless he felt he was threatened or provoked."

"I wonder what the reason could be," Dao said softly. He stepped around the sheet-covered corpses and looked over the rest of the room. "This room has a private elevator that connects directly with the parking garage downstairs. Emergency exit for the one percent."

Danny made his way over to the corner that Dao indicated. "Found it," he announced. "I'm going to see if I can pull any prints that we can run."

Dao nodded and turned to Ben. "I'm going downstairs to check with security. They have cameras on every floor including the parking garage."

Ben waited until Dao was outside the room before he joined Danny at the private elevator, a car equal to the size of the ten situated throughout the Weatherby for public use but more exquisite. The marble interior was an exact match to the suite it exclusively serviced.

Danny stood inside the elevator with a small brush as he lightly dusted the buttons with graphite from his shoulder bag. He leaned close and blew lightly on the surface. "Looks like I got some good prints here," he said as he reached down and pulled out a tablet and his cellphone. "From the amount of graphite that stuck, very fresh prints. Couldn't be more than two, maybe three hours old."

He dialed a number and handed the phone to Ben. "Hold that while I take a few happy snaps."

The line clicked on the phone in Ben's hand. "Hey, Danny," said Valerie. "What does it look like down there?"

"Like something out of _Scarface,"_ Danny replied drily. He held the tablet in front of the buttons and took several high resolution pictures from different angles. "I'm sending you some pics of a few prints I picked up. Can you run them for me?"

"Let me get back to my office. Is Ben with you?"

Ben quickly glanced around the corner of the hotel suite. "I'm right here, Val. You're on speaker but it's safe to talk. What do you have?"

"Alice and company landed in Venice safely. Before they landed, they found out that Oliver Griffiths is a dad. Three kids. Two daughters and a son. They just ran into him at the apartment the Griffiths own."

Ben's eyebrows arched sharply at the news. He looked over at Danny who simply shook his head as he slipped the tablet back into his bag. "What was the atmosphere for that meeting?"

"A little tense at first. The son thought Alice was going to use him to get to his father. In the end he showed them where there is another apartment his father owns outright. They'll check it out in the morning and then head home."

Ben nearly smiled. The thought of having his arms wrapped around Alice again made him feel as if she had been gone for much longer than the two short days they have been separated. "I can't wait."

"I bet you can't. I received the prints, Danny. Running them through the LAPD database and … oh."

Danny and Ben shared a look. "What is it, Val?"

"It looks like one of the other kids is in town. I'm sending the file to your tablet, Danny."

Danny reached inside his bag and retrieved the device. He thumbed it on and held it out to where Ben can see the screen displaying the picture of a blonde female.

"Katherine Griffiths," he said. "You're right, Val. One of the kids _is_ in town along with Daddy."

Silence replied back to Ben through the cell phone. "Val? Are you alright?"

"Uh, you better come back to AVI, Ben. Under no circumstances are you to bring Jules back here."

The line disconnected, leaving Ben to give Danny a perplexed look. "Wonder what that was all about."

Danny sighed and stepped off the elevator. "I don't know, but you heard the lady. Get out of here."

Before Ben could object, Danny stuck his hand inside and hit the _DOWN_ arrow. "See you back at AVI," he said, waving at Ben as the doors closed.

Danny dusted other areas outside the elevator for several minutes and took more pictures of visible prints he was able to find. When he heard Dao outside the suite, he packed his tools into his bag as the FBI agent rounded the corner. He started to speak but realized something was amiss. "Where is Jones?"

"He took the elevator down to see if there was anything he could find down in the parking garage." Danny jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the elevator. "I managed to pull some decent prints but the software on my tablet is corrupted. I'm going to head back to AVI and see who they belong to."

Dao nodded. "You might as well collect Jones downstairs before you go. Video cameras on this floor were disabled. My boss sees no reason for the FBI to investigate this so he wants it turned over to the LAPD. They're sending their CSI to process the suite."

Danny slung his bag over his shoulder. "Well, maybe I'll have some luck with the prints but if you're off the case, I might as well turn everything over to Detective Nick Turner or whoever the lead will be."

Dao nodded in agreement. "Keep me posted."

He watched Danny depart as he stood in the middle of the suite. The police officers continued to stand watch outside the door. He started to make his way out to ask when a supervisor would show up when he heard an audible beep around the corner.

A frown began to form on his features as he thought Ben took the elevator back up to the suite from the garage. Careful not to trip over the covered bodies still on the floor, he made his way over to the alcove.

The elevator sat open as Dao approached. He peered inside, briefly noting the craftsmanship of the interior before pulling back. He began to turn back for the suite's exit but the gray dust covering the call button caught his eye.

He leaned in close and saw a slightly visible fingerprint covered by graphite. He held out his thumb over the button and peered at it again for comparison.

Dao stepped back and stood in silence for a second, weighing his options. He reached into his jacket and pulled out his cellphone. Holding it over the button, he took a few pictures of the print. Seconds later, he dialed a number to the bureau's crime lab.

"This is Special Agent Jules Dao. I'm getting ready to send pictures of a fingerprint."

#

After a late morning breakfast, Tessa and Tilda decided to take in the sights of Venice, leaving the others to proceed with their continuing investigation. Using a map Tilda had drawn up the night before, they found their way to the spot Christian had indicated that his father had owned with ease. The Hammer used a lockpick set to jimmy the locks while the women kept watch. The door was open in seconds and the three stepped inside.

The two women stood in a room devoid of any furniture except for a cot and nightstand with a small desk lamp in the corner. A fold out table with a desktop computer rested in front of a wall almost completely covered from ceiling to floor with pictures, newspaper and Internet clippings, receipts, and napkins with hastily scribbled notes jotted on them.

Alice took a long look at the scene before her. She shook her head and turned to Sophie.

"On a scale of one to ten -"

Sophie smiled. "Of the walls of crazy we've come across in our line of work? This one is up there."

"Oliver Griffiths has been at this for quite some time," said Alice as she pointed at a picture of Rhys and Margot standing outside of Rhys' car. "Rhys was wearing that outfit the day he and Ben broke into this crime boss' estranged wife and … tried to steal a sperm specimen from her."

Sophie's eyes darted up from her tablet. "Wait, what?"

"Long story. Very classified. But that was over seven months ago." Alice pointed at another picture of Margot standing outside with a trench coat and a umbrella. "That's the outfit she wore when we busted …"

Alice's voice trailed off as both women glanced behind them. The Hammer stood at the door watching them in silence. One quizzical eyebrow arched in question.

Alice grinned. "Good times," she said as she returned her gaze back to the board. "Sophie, how long do you think it will take to pack up everything?"

"We don't have to." Sophie held up her tablet. "I created an algorithm that will create a computer simulation of everything. All I have to do is take one whole picture followed by a separate picture of each item. The algorithm will automatically cut and paste everything for display on my laptop after it finishes compiling."

Alice's mouth gaped open in surprise. "When did you build something like that?"

Sophie framed a picture on the wall in the display on her tablet screen. "I started three months ago during my free time. I finally finished a few weeks ago. It also keeps track of the significance of each picture or note via an Excel spreadsheet."

"Well, I'm very impressed." Alice took a long look at the wall. "How long do you think it will take to record everything?"

"I should be done in an hour or so."

Alice looked at her watch. "I promised my future stepdaughter I was going to treat her for her birthday."

#

Valerie Anderson slowly rose from her office chair and braced her hands on the surface of her desk. "I'm still trying to figure out why the hell are you here."

Sitting on the couch before her, Rhys crossed his legs and smirked. "Oh come on, Valerie. You know you miss me hanging around you guys and your investigating gadgets as you're doing your … investigating."

Valerie stood in stony silence as she glared at him. Rhys swallowed hard and asked nervously, "Might I see your purse?"

Valerie gave a frustrated sigh. "What the hell for?"

"I just want to see if that's where you're hiding a gun." Rhys leaned forward with a devilish grin on his face. "It seems to be a favorite place to store a weapon for the ladies of Anderson and Vaughan Investigations."

Valerie almost in fact reached for her handbag which was on the floor by her chair when Ben pushed her office door open. Rhys looked up at his former friend and shot up to his feet.

"Benji!" he exclaimed happily as he walked over, his arms extended in embrace. "How I missed you."

Ben held up a hand, stopping Rhys in his tracks. "Did I scare you into the Weatherby? The penthouse suite looks like something out of a Bond flick."

"Oh, was referencing a British spy movie your way of saying you forgive me?"

Ben scoffed at the question. "It's taking a lot for me not to beat the hell out of you, Rhys. Don't start. Now why are you here?"

Rhys looked down at his shoes for a long moment, nearly causing Ben to ask the question again. When he finally looked up, his normal cavalier attitude was replaced by a more monotone demeanor. "This … blonde, tall and beautiful - she was in the room waiting when I walked in. She said … she _called_ me cousin."

Ben nodded. "She is your cousin. Looks like one of your uncle's girls is in town along with Daddy. Danny pulled a print from the private elevator."

Valerie had walked around to sit on the front edge of her desk. "Alice spoke with your mother to get confirmation about Oliver Griffiths. Everything's that happening - him being here, his daughter, they have to be after one thing and that has to be the firm."

Rhys shook his head as he reclaimed his seat. "No, they're after the ledger."

Valerie and Ben gave him a puzzled look. "The ledger? What's that?" Ben asked.

"The ledger, my dear Benji, is a record of absolutely everything in Crime Mastermind 101. Every murder committed, every weapons cache, every cutout, secret hideaway, every underling hiding young, old, dead for one reason or another."

He looked up at Val. "It's almost like a … magic eight ball. You ask any question and you are bound to get an answer. It may not be the answer you expect but in its forty years of existence, it has yet to fail."

Ben soaked the information in. "All right. Where is it?"

Rhys shrugged. "I don't know."

"Is it a book?" queried Val.

"I don't know."

Ben gave an exasperated shake of his head. "Well, what _do_ you know, Rhys?"

Rhys took a moment before answering. "All I can say is that it covers maybe dozens of organizations, and a lot of them are not illegal. It's been rumored that Scotland Yard, the KGB, MI6, even your CIA and FBI, they may be listed for one reason or another."

He fixed Ben with a steady gaze as he continued. "Trust me when I say I have no idea where the ledger is. For my newfound cousin to be looking for it speaks volumes because whoever has control of the ledger, he or she will assert control over just about every criminal organization or government agency in the world."

#


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Tessa watched as the bartender set a glass of wine in front of her. She looked at it for a long moment as if expecting the glass to fly off in a rush before she could grasp it with her hand.

Alice gave the teenager a smile and gestured to the glass. "I promised that we would do something since everyone missed your birthday. Enjoy."

The look on Tessa's face clearly signified that she was not buying it. "What's the catch?"

"No catch. The minimum age for drinking in Italy is sixteen." Alice stretched over and slid the wine closer. "Here you can have one glass."

Tessa's eyes narrowed to slits as she stared at Alice. Finally she sighed and reached for the long stemmed glass. "Thank you," she said.

"As long as we have an understanding that _this_ isn't going to be a habit back home." Alice pulled her wine glass closer to her. "So don't even."

Tessa said nothing as she took a perfunctory sip. She closed her eyes as she savored the taste against her palette. "Not too tart."

The two women sat outside of a restaurant at a small table. A cobblestone walkway separated the seating area from the Grand Canal. Gondolas traveled seamlessly up and down the expansive waterway.

Alice set her glass down. "We haven't had much of a chance to talk since we started on this world tour. What's the deal with Tilda?"

Tessa regarded the older woman for several seconds. "She was there with my grandmother when my mother and I arrived in … one of her many hideaways. Mum barely talked to her, but we clicked almost instantly."

She smiled as her voice took an almost melancholic tone. "She told me about the first time she and Grandmama worked together. Some mission on a train to London where they had to distract Interpol agents looking for information into a break-in at their Lyon headquarters. How she was able to get through it was amazing, but it was a testament of my grandmother's training."

Alice regarded the young woman from behind her glass. "Most young girls your age get a sweet sixteen birthday party."

"Yes, I attended one such party with my mother." Tessa leaned back in her plush chair in reminiscent thought. "The first time I saw my mother and father at work."

"Is this the party at Raymond Taggert's house I heard about? When it comes to your mother's exploits, your father's usually not very forthcoming with information."

"Yes." Tessa brightened. "We were there to gather intel on Taggert's organization to use in the hopes of consolidating them into the firm. It … it didn't go all to plan at first."

"With your mother? Shocker," murmured Alice.

"But then Dad showed up and I had a chance to watch them come together with a plan so quickly and efficiently." Tessa swelled with pride. "Within five minutes, eighty percent of Taggert's staff chose to side with the Kensington Firm."

Alice watched the girl as she took another sip of her wine. "Doesn't it bother you that you're a fugitive of justice instead of doing things normal teenagers do your age?"

Tessa gave Alice a puzzled look. "What is it that girls my age do?"

"Like concerts, going to movies, the mall, choosing colleges. Boys. Cheerleading practice. Maybe, just _maybe_ raid their parents' liquor cabinet once in a while." Alice set her glass down and leaned forward. "Not set up a master plan to blow up their school or hire hitmen or have their family kidnapped."

A corner of Tessa's mouth turned up slightly, a trademark expression Alice had seen on Margot and Rhys' faces numerous times. "And how did _your_ teenage years turn out, Alice? Were you the cute little school girl tutoring boys in their homework after school?"

The vibrating cell phone on the table stopped Alice from answering. She picked it up and saw it was Ben calling. "Your father," she announced as she pressed the video conference button.

Ben's face appeared on the small screen. Alice noted the interior of her bedroom in the background. "Hi."

"Hi yourself." Alice glanced up at the time display on her phone. "It must be late there."

"Coming up on ten right now. I just thought I'd give you a call before I start my night. You okay?"

"Yes. Sophie and I found another apartment Oliver Griffiths owned and she's recording a wall of crazy left behind. Whatever he has planned, he's been at it at least since you cut your original C.I. deal with Agent Diaz."

Ben raised his eyebrows in concern. "Is Tessa on it? You?"

"No, but that doesn't mean he doesn't know about any of us." Alice glanced over at Tessa as she eased around the table. "Someone wants to say hello."

Tessa held her wine glass up in a toast. "Cheers, Daddy."

Ben's eyes narrowed. Instead of admonishing his daughter, he rubbed his head wearily. "I assume Alice is allowing you to take advantage of the drinking age limit in Venice."

"It's only one glass," Alice said quickly as she turned the phone out of view of Tessa. "Starting your night? Anything new and exciting happened?"

Ben took a deep breath. "I went and talked to Rhys."

Alice frowned. "And what possessed you to do a crazy thing like that?"

"Rhys can be calculating but turns blind when the bigger picture is right in front of him. He didn't take to the fact that he has long-lost relatives out there, but after one of his cousins shot and killed the concierge and manager of the Weatherby and nearly him as well, he does now."

"Wait, one of the girls is in town?"

"The middle child." Ben held up a picture of Katherine Griffiths for Alice to see. "Within two hours he showed up here at AVI looking for me as a true believer."

Alice glanced over at Tessa who sat beside her listening intently. "I can't promise that when I see him, I won't knock him on his ass."

"Line forms behind me." Ben grinned. "I might allow cutsies, though."

"You're sweet."

The grin remained on Ben's face. "Speaking of sweet, Ethan called me earlier."

"You need to stop."

"I told him that you'll probably be returning within the next few days so he asked if his pilot can hitch a ride back."

Alice giggled. "Of course. We have to stop in New York to refuel anyway. I'll text Ethan to have him send me the pilot's information."

Ben nodded. "So, besides drinking wine with my teenage daughter, what else have you guys found?"

"Nothing besides what Sophie and I found in Uncle Ollie's room. Why?"

"Rhys said the cousin was looking for a ledger of some sort. A record of every illicit, unauthorized and illegitimate action by hundreds of groups all across the world."

Alice absorbed the news as she took a sip of her wine. Tessa leaned in close. "What kind of groups?"

"From crime families like the firm, the Shives, to government agencies. FBI, KGB, Bratva, MI6."

Tessa looked up at Alice. "When Felicity approached me over a year ago to take my rightful place as heir of the firm, she told me that she was in search of a record of such dealings."

"Did she ever find it?"

Tessa shook her head. "She said she had only learned about it weeks prior from one of the firm's rivals who was in search of it himself."

"And what happened to this rival?"

Tessa sipped her wine. "This _is_ Felicity we're talking about."

Alice nodded. "We have to assume whatever information she possessed, if any, it would be very limited. No need to question her. Plus it would alert the FBI on what we're doing."

She drummed the table with her fingers from her free hand. "Is there a chance Sybil would know anything about it?"

"Possibly. Though it would be hard to ask her now with her fleeing. I have no idea where she could have gone."

Alice gave Tessa a searching look. "Like you didn't know we were flying to the Maldives?"

"I didn't know where we were going until I saw Tilda. That is the truth, I swear. Tilda does business there all the time so I made an assumption, but it easily could have been the wrong one."

An electronic cough issued from the phone in Alice's hand, startling both of them. They looked down at Ben's face on the screen. "What?" asked Alice.

"Just watching my two ladies go back and forth, that's all." Ben looked off to the side for a second. "I have to go tuck Rhys in somewhere. I expect you should be back sometime tomorrow?"

"We're leaving once Sophie finishes processing the room."

Ben nodded. "I can't wait. It feels like you have been gone for two months."

"Not funny, Ben." Alice still grinned. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Ben returned the smile just before he disconnected the call. Alice placed the phone on the table and picked up her wine glass. "The ledger. What, instead of a grisly monologue into what has or is about to happen, criminals now notate their exploits for prosperity?"

Tessa grinned. "Mum said something somewhat similar." She sat her empty glass down and glanced up the pathway along the canal at Sophie and the Hammer strolling casually towards them.

"Looks like your employees are done with … whatever." Her eyes twinkled as her familial smirk reappeared. "I hope they had enough time to actually do some work."

" _You_ need to stop," said Alice as she rose to her feet. "Call the hotel and tell Tilda to get ready."

She slipped her phone into her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

"It's time to go home."

#

Oliver Griffiths observed the men and women gathered at the table before him. He smiled at the sight as he mentally tabulated the guest list.

A female body guard stood behind Bianca Shive who sat to his immediate right. A close cousin to Mickey and Aldrick and former military, her sudden ascension to Aldrick's position enabled Oliver to easily consolidate her organization under his command.

The others gathered there were not so lucky. A few sat with scratches on their faces or bruises on the visible parts of their bodies. The corner of his mouth turned up in a barely hiddened smirk.

 _My girls were busy,_ he thought.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," he said. "I'm so happy that you all graciously accepted my daughters' _kind_ invitation to come here tonight."

One of the men seated at the far end of the table coughed into his hand, a portly fellow with a cast around his left wrist.

"I _asked_ you here to assist me in a matter of utmost importance. Something that affects each and every one of you sitting at this table."

Oliver locked eyes with all gathered. Even Bianca's bodyguard wilted a little under his brief glare. "Something that could either put each one of you either in the ground, or on a pedestal to lord over all."

At the mention of a pending threat against their freedom versus riches to be had, the individuals at the table slowly leaned toward him.

 _Now I have their attention._

#

Margot flung the magazine she had flipped through on the coffee table. "This is pointless," she said, adjusting herself on the leather couch where she sat. "I still have men under my employ who cannot be turned. They can protect me."

Danny stood by the sliding glass door as he worked the slide of his pistol several times. "You haven't been able to raise any of them all day so we have to assume that everyone has been turned, Margot. The major crime families in the city, they already have been. You of all people should know that loyalty goes as far as your pockets are deep and unless you have a hidden account I don't know about, I bet your guys are more than likely gone."

Margot fumed and crossed her arms in a huff. Danny slammed a magazine into his pistol and chambered a round before engaging the safety. "Lucky for you my services are free of charge."

Margot scoffed. "So Valerie and Alice aren't billing me for the use of this safehouse?"

Danny looked around the spacious living room. "This is Ethan Hunt's old house. He was in the process of selling it but gave it AVI at below market value. Our security team is roving the perimeter, there is a panic room hidden in the master bedroom closet, and a secret path from the back leads out to the street, which is a block from the local police sublet and fire station."

Margot's eyes appeared to glass over as Danny gave his summary. "Whatever," she said, getting up from the couch with her purse hanging from her arm. "I'm going to the restroom to freshen up."

Danny's eyes followed Margot as she headed down the hallway to the master bedroom. He slid his pistol into his jacket and activated his earwig. "Agent Shawn, perimeter check."

"Roger. All clear on the perimeter." Shawn Sullivan's voice filtered through clearly. "Wait one. Jones plus one approaching premises. I'm putting them into the garage."

"Copy that." Danny walked through the expansive kitchen and opened the side door, shielding his eyes from the headlights of the black SUV pulling into the empty three-car garage.

The lamps turned off as Ben exited the car. "Hey, Danny. Thanks again for waiting up for me. And for putting him up for the night."

Rhys slammed his door shut after exiting the passenger side. He slung a overnight bag over his shoulder. "Right, is this the poor chap who has been snogging my sister on the regular?"

Danny ignored him as he led them into the kitchen. Rhys stopped at the refrigerator and opened the door. "Ben, are you going to whip up one of your famous dishes?" he asked as he bent down to survey its contents.

An image of Danny slamming the door repeatedly against Rhys' skull almost made him smile.

Almost

The sound of Ben's voice interrupted his thoughts. "I am crashing hard so we can do this all over again tomorrow. You?"

Before Danny could answer, the clicking of heels against hardwood floor echoed from the hallway. "I hope there is some liquor in this house," said Margot, rounding the corner into the kitchen as she scrolled through the contents of her phone.

She finally looked up and noted Ben standing beside Danny. "What are you doing here? Did something happen to Tessa?"

Her eyes widened when Rhys straightened from the refrigerator. "Sister!"

Margot's brow creased with fury at the sight of her brother. A shaking hand reached into her purse and pulled out a small pistol. Before anyone could react, she pulled the trigger.

#

"Detective Nick Turner, my name is FBI Special Agent Jules Dao. I'm leaving you a message in regards to a double murder investigation at the Weatherby Hotel. An associate from Anderson and Vaughan Investigations stated that you may be taking the case."

Dao paced outside AVI's main lobby as he left the voicemail for Valerie's former partner. It was half past ten at night but the mass of pedestrian traffic only lessened with a slight difference from earlier in the day. A barista cart on the sidewalk held court for nearly a dozen customers.

"I'm not calling to impede on your process as the case is not a FBI matter, but I've had several dealings involving occupants of that very same hotel in the recent past. I would greatly appreciate it if you could touch base with me if your findings look to stray … out of your jurisdiction. If you don't mind. Thank you very much."

He disconnected the call just as he felt a tap on his shoulder. Dao slid his phone into his jacket as he turned to face Valerie. "Why hello," he murmured, taking in the sight of her.

Valerie smiled, sliding a lock of her hair out of her face. "Hello yourself. Are you ready to eat? I am starving."

With a flourish, Dao gestured down the street to his sedan.

"Your chariot awaits."

#

Ben flinched at the first click of the trigger but remained still for a split second before he sprinted into action.

Margot looked at her pistol in astonishment. She aimed it again at Rhys who stared back at her completely motionless, in total shock.

Ben grabbed Margot's wrist and pushed it in the air with his left hand. It took two agonizing seconds before he managed to pull the gun from her hand. "Margot, stop! Danny!"

Danny rushed to Ben's side and secured Margot as Ben stepped back. Margot screamed at him, "You have the nerve to show your face here, you pompous backstabber!"

Ben popped the magazine out of her pistol. "Empty," he said as he looked at Danny. "Thanks."

Margot stopped struggling in Danny's grasp to look over her shoulder at him. "You took the bullets out of my gun?"

Danny gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry," he said. "You two have a common enemy now, Margot," he said. He slowly released her. "And I know that you have a loose trigger finger."

"She grew up like that, you know." Rhys finally regained some of his swagger in light of the hatred in Margot's eyes. "You've had that gun for years. You couldn't tell you were missing a little … something?"

Margot rolled her eyes. "I can't believe I saved your life with that three million dollar loan that night."

"Three million?" Rhys' eyes darted over to Ben. "Wait, was she your mysterious benefactor who helped you pay off that midget Chinese diamond smuggling wanker?"

"Yes, I helped pay him off, you dolt." Margot snatched her arm from Danny's grasp but made no further threatening moves towards her brother. "But don't you worry your little head about it. I've been promptly compensated. With interest."

" _With interest?"_ Rhys laughed scornfully as he reached back into the refrigerator and pulled out several beer bottles. "What was the interest? Blood from a stone?"

"How about diamonds from a fish?" Ben replied dryly.

The surprise was clearly evident on Rhys' face at the revelation. He menacingly at Margot. "That was _you?_ Do you know we were accused of stealing those diamonds?!"

Margot scoffed. "Please, brother, you were probably thinking about stealing some yourself, wasn't he, Ben?"

Ben chuckled. "She knows you well, Rhys."

Rhys rubbed his forehead. "Does sounds like something I would do. Though guess what? I wouldn't shoot you!"

"Oh I wasn't going to kill you." Before Danny or Ben could react, Margot walked over to Rhys and took one of the beers. "Just wing you in the shoulder where Felicity shot you, that's all. You're used to it."

"All right, all right." Ben interjected. "As much as I'm enjoying this wonderful reunion of Kensington Firm employees, we have other things to worry about."

Once beers were past out and everyone were seated in the living room, Ben looked over at Margot. "Alice and Tessa found out a lot of information during their trip. They're on their way back right now."

"Trip?" Rhys slid forward in his chair. "Where did you have them go?"

"To see your mother."

A smile appeared in Rhys' face. "Mum made it out after all. And with her head attached."

"Focus, Rhys," said Ben. "Sybil said that Oliver Griffiths is indeed your long lost uncle. And wanting you and Margot out of the picture isn't the only thing he's after."

Margot looked from Rhys to Ben. "What is it?"

"A ledger of some sort. Rhys said it holds a record of everything every crime faction and government intelligence agency has ever done. He wants it. Wants it so bad that he sent his daughter over to the Weatherby to find Rhys to see if he had it and kill him."

Margot's breath quickened. "The ledger," she whispered. "I thought it was a myth."

"Your uncle and cousins don't think so," said Danny. "Three people that we know of are dead because of it. It would have been four with Rhys."

"One less card to write out for Tessa's graduation." Margot's blue eyes searched Rhys' with a piercing glare. "You have it, don't you?"

Rhys finished his beer and walked to the kitchen." _If_ I did, and this is _not_ an admission of possession at all, but _if_ I did, do you honestly think I would tell you?"

Margot was not buying it. She followed her brother into the kitchen with Danny and Ben not far behind. "As much as I would like to believe the very same man who plotted for months to snatch the firm from under me, I don't because of the simple fact that I know you. All this is trademark Rhys right here."

Rhys popped another beer open and down a healthy pull. "If Jameson was alive, I would have definitely snatched _him_ from under you in addition to the firm. Poor chap, God bless him."

Margot shook her head in frustration. "Danny! Where are the bullets to my gun?!"

#

Tilda stepped out of the cockpit into a nearly darkened cabin and closed the door silently behind her. Sitting alone with a reading lamp shining down on her, Alice looked up from the tablet in her lap. "Did the pilot accept your apology?"

Tilda chuckled as she sat down in the empty seat facing Alice. "Oh, he was fine before we even came back to New York. A fully comped stay in the penthouse suite at a five-star hotel and theater tickets to "Hamilton" can always erase any issues."

"I heard Ethan practically rolled out the red carpet for him." Alice smiled at Tilda. "I wish you would have simply came to us, but in the end everything worked out."

"That it did, sweetheart."

"I still need to ask you something."

Tilda nodded. "I thought you might."

Alice held up the tablet. "Sophie recorded every picture, every note, every page copied from case files, every scrap of paper no matter how insignificant, then inputted everything into an established selectable algorithm to create a flowchart of what Oliver Griffiths had on his apartment wall. I went over everything several times since we left. A lot of the items were nothing new. They only solidified what we already know: he has been working this for months."

Alice swiped her finger across the tablet screen. "One page Soph found from an Interpol file caught my eye. I took a look at where it was located on the wall and it was buried under old family photos and a napkin. Oliver might had thought it was worth a look at first but dismissed it. Here it is."

Alice held out the tablet to Tilda for her to see the picture of a faded yellow document. "It had to have been a part of a very old file. Typewritten. I'm willing to bet if a copy is still out there, it only exists on microfiche."

Tilda shrugged as she zoomed in on the picture. "Hmm. According to this, two agents were chasing down documents that led to a huge cover-up within the organization. According to this, the agents found leads that pointed them to a train heading from Lyon, France to London in ,,, 1971." Tilda gave the tablet back to Alice. "The agents returned empty-handed."

"Oh, I don't think they did." Alice placed the tablet in her lap. "They didn't recover the loss information, but I think those agents were treated to a very good time on that train ride by two women who told them they were simply touring Europe but in all actuality, they were just getting a certain crime family that has been a pain in my ass for the better part of two years now up and running. What better way to do that than commit account numbers and documents to memory and establish a sustainable cash flow for the Kensington Firm for the first three years of its existence?"

Alice tapped her forefinger on the tablet. "It worked with Interpol, so why stop there? Scotland Yard. MI6. KGB. Bratva. Yakuza. The Triad. The FBI. CIA. Access to their darkest secrets, all stored in the head of one Margot Tilda Gable. Aka The Ledger."

Tilda did not immediately respond. She simply smiled and nodded her head. "Dear Sybil was spot on when she said that you were very intelligent. What tipped you off?"

Alice jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "Tessa when we were flying to the Maldives, and then earlier when we were by ourselves. She mentioned you and Sybil getting involved with Interpol agents. Everything else, I guessed."

Tilda chuckled. "I haven't been called "The Ledger" since I held little Margot in my arms when she was a tiny thing," she said. "A lifetime ago."

She sighed and rose to walk over to the bar, stealing a glance at the rearmost seating section in the cabin. Tessa slept in the rear row of seats with wireless earbuds implanted in her ears. The Hammer sat across the aisle from her, his pistol taken apart on the table before him. Sophie sat in the row in front of him, her head propped up by a pillow against the cabin wall.

"I first realized I had a photographic memory when I was ten," she said as she poured bourbon into two tumblers. "Sunday school. The teacher asked me to read from the fourth book of Moses. Numbers. I got up and instead of opening my Bible, I recited all fifty-four verses of Chapter One word for word in accordance with the King James version. And this was no ordinary chapter. This was correctly naming the head of each tribe of the House of Israel. Neat?"

Alice nodded. Tilda walked back to her seat and sat down, passing a glass over. "It started with simple homework. By the time I graduated high school, I was getting paid a hundred a pop to take other people's SATs. I then branched out into other tests, tripling, quadrupling my fees in the process."

Intrigued, Alice sat her drink in the armrest's cup holder. "How did Sybil find you?"

"Would you believe it when I tell you it was two days before the train from France to London? While I was on vacation?"

Alice gasped. "You're kidding."

"One thing I do not kid about is my work." Tilda grinned. "Settle in, sweetheart. I got a story for you right here."

#


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

"I've taken the liberty of ordering a bottle of a merlot I grew accustomed to in France," Dao said as he slid into his seat across from Valerie and handed her a menu. "One of the reasons why I wanted to come here tonight."

"Alice and I talked about coming here a few times," she said as her eyes took in the the selections. "We never got around to actually doing it with everything that's been going on."

Dao nodded as he looked over his menu. "And why isn't she joining us tonight? I'm sure she could have tore herself from … whatever it is she's doing."

"She's … doing something with Ben tonight." Val's eyes locked with Dao's for a split second before they retreated back to the menu in her hands. "I didn't want to bother her."

Dao continued to watch her in silence until he smiled. "This reminds me of when I was tailing Alice that one night. Or so I thought."

Val looked up at him. Her eyes reflected the flickering of the candles on the nearby wall. "Oh, you mean the night we found your little bug? It was so cute."

Before he could respond, Dao's phone vibrated in his pocket. "Apologies," he said as he pulled it out and peered at the display screen.

For three seconds he contemplated his next move, using the motion of replacing the phone back into his jacket to disguise his process. He leaned forward in his chair over at Valerie.

"You know, I have thought about that night for quite a while now."

Val did not lift her eyes from the menu in her hands. "Really?"

"Of course. It taught me a lot about you and Alice. That it's hard to figure out when you're telling the truth … or not."

He placed his hand on top of the menu. "Just like right … now."

Valerie looked up at Dao for a long moment. She sighed and released the menu. Instead of placing her hands in her lap, she used them to cover Dao's.

"Okay, Dao. You win."

#

Margot stood by the sliding glass door leading out to an enclosed veranda, a steaming cup of coffee resting on a saucer in her hand. She heard a noise in the bed behind her but did not move as she waited with anticipation.

The arms she waited for wrapped around her waist. Danny slid her hair back behind her neck with his chin and kissed her passionately behind her left ear.

The motion was more than Margot could bear. She stretched out until the coffee cup and saucer was safely on a side table before she turned around and kissed Danny with much fervor. The silk robe she wore fell to the floor as he scooped her up in his arms and brought her back to the bed.

#

"I do want to apologize for what happened after we arrived in New York," said Alice. "I promised Mr. Hunt that I would make sure you are properly compensated by my firm for any inconvenience you might have faced."

The pilot waved off the offer, warily eyeing Tilda who stood beside the jet smiling behind Alice. "No need, Miss Vaughan. Mr. Hunt said that he'll make sure I'm taken care of. I've placed a call with your office when we were twenty minutes out and Miss Anderson is sending cars for you and your group."

Sophie and the Hammer descended from the plane as Alice smiled. "Well, thank you for all your help. I think I see our rides now."

Two dark SUVs pulled into the hangar and came to a stop several feet from the jet. The passenger door to the closest vehicle opened and Valerie exited. "How was your international vacay?"

Alice took a step forward and hugged her best friend. "Very informative," she answered. "Any problems on your end?"

Val released Alice and took a step back. "You could probably say that," she said. Her voice took an apologetic turn. "Dao knows about your little trip. He's not too happy. "

Sophie gasped. "We've been keeping a lot from Dao for days now. Are we in trouble?"

"It doesn't matter," Alice answered reassuringly. "We have a little get out of jail free card that I will play at the appropriate time. In the meantime you and the Hammer can head to the office and recreate that wall of crazy we found and make sure the information we gathered on the Griffiths is properly inputted into our database."

Alice gestured for Tilda to come forward. "This is Tilda. She is an associate of Sybil Griffiths. I need her taken to our new safe house."

Val slowly shook her head causing Alice to give her a questioning look.

"That … might not be a good idea."

Alice's eyes narrowed.

"Why?"

#

Rhys staggered several steps backwards, his eyes watering as his left hand reached up to his nose. He blinked through the tears as a trickle of blood slipped through his clenched fingers.

"Oh how I have missed you, Alice."

Alice shook feeling back into her hand as she glared at Rhys. "You nearly destroyed everything that Ben did to gain his freedom for your selfish gains and then you come scurrying back to stand behind him because you nearly caught a bullet."

Margot jovially raised a finger from the couch where she sat with Tessa. "Actually, he almost caught two."

Alice slowly walked over to Rhys where he stood by the marble kitchen island. Rhys did not know whether to raise his fists to protect himself or step back. He opted for standing completely still as she came to a halt mere inches away.

"We will work to bring down your uncle and his crazy daughters. We will make sure that you are protected, but that means you will do what I say. It means none of your insane one-liners, none of your gunslinger hijinks, none of it."

She slowly brought up the hand that she had used to punch Rhys in his nose to tightly clenched his teal silk tie. "You make the one wrong move that that I don't like and it will be a coin flip as to whether I toss your ass to Dao or your uncle. Trust me when I say that it doesn't matter who. _You_ will be gone."

She reached up with her other hand and straightened the tie until the hand wrinkles were smoothed out. Rhys smiled down at her.

"Oh how I have missed you, Alice."

Alice took a deep breath, expelling the air from her lungs as the anger within her gradually dissipated. She turned from Rhys and back to Margot and Tessa.

"I have to go to the office. It seems Agent Dao is trying to piece together everything himself in his usual dogged way so I have to make sure that he doesn't know you two are in the picture. Agent Shawn is outside. If you need to reach us, use one of the burners we provided yesterday, but no other communication with the outside world."

She started to make her way to the exit but turned back to the couch and looked at Tessa. The teenage girl gathered her purse and phone up as she rose to her feet.

Margot also got up, giving Tessa a startled look. "Tessa? Where are you going, dear?"

"With Alice, Mum." She squeezed Margot's hand. "It seems being with her is a safer bet than being _anywhere_ around you two."

She winked before releasing Margot's hand and eased her way past Rhys out of the door. Rhys shook his head as he shot Margot a rueful grin.

"That child is getting smarter and smarter everyday."

#

Ben blew out a long whistle as he took in some of the information Sophie had posted on the wall of Alice's office. "Oliver Griffiths really gathered a lot of information on Rhys and Margot. This looks like over a year's worth of intel, pictures, notes."

He looked at one sheet of paper intently for several seconds. "Hmmm. The G's written on this paper show three uncharacteristic differences. That means three different people wrote on it."

Sitting cross legged on the floor, Sophie looked up from her laptop at him. "You were able to see that?"

"That's how I was able to figure out someone was embezzling from Ethan Hunt. That and a birthday card."

"I didn't even think about handwriting analysis or anything like that."

"No need. Three guesses who it was collecting notes." Ben sat down on the couch and took a sip out of his coffee mug.

"I had just brewed a fresh pot before you got in. Want a cup?"

"Sure."

Sophie watched Ben reached over for a thermos and spare mug. She fiddled with her laptop absentmindedly until he passed the mug to her. "Here you go."

"Thanks." She took a sniff of the contents and noted the unique aroma. "It smells great."

Ben smiled. "I grind my own beans."

Sophie returned the smile and looked at Ben from behind her mug as he slid a stack of folders closer to him on the couch. She set down the coffee and closed her laptop.

"Ben, I think I owe you an apology."

He glanced up from his work, a little surprised at her announcement. "What for?"

"I think I was a little hostile towards you when you came back to the city. Everything that has happened with AVI, I - I blamed you, I blamed Margot Bishop, and I blamed Rhys. I especially blamed you because of how you misled Alice for a year."

She looked down at her right hand and noticed with a start that it was covering her surgical incision. "I put a lot of blame on you without considering the good you have done and it was unfair to you. I hope you accept my apology."

Ben shook his head. "Sophie, you have nothing to apologize for. In fact, I want to apologize to _you_ for what you had to go through the last few months. You were shot while in the middle of another one of Margot and Rhys' petty battles for the Kensington Firm throne. That's something I will always regret."

He tapped his knee with a finger in thought. "Alice told me you were thinking about leaving. I know everything that has happened led you to whatever decision you make. I feel responsible for … you even being in that position. If you leave AVI, it will be something else I have to add to the list."

He shook his head again. "I never wanted to involve any of you in this. I wish I could have you all as far away from this as I could possibly get you."

"But you know I wouldn't let that happen."

Ben and Sophie both looked up at Alice standing at the door. Ben smiled and climbed to his feet. "Hey you."

"Hi." Alice walked over and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Oh how I have missed you."

Ben kissed her lightly, distracted somewhat by the support brace wrapped around her right wrist. He pulled her arms down and scrutinized it closely.

"What happened? Are you alright?"

Alice gave him a sheepish grin. "I stopped over at the house after I landed."

"Oh." Ben smiled. "Rhys."

Alice nodded. "Rhys. It's fine. I guess when I saw Rhys, I got so pissed that I forgot to straighten my wrist. Oh well. It still had the proper effect."

She reached up to kiss him on the cheek before looking down at Sophie. "Any problems, Soph?" She indicated the intel board.

Sophie rose from the floor with the grace of a ballerina. "All done. I'll make sure everything is deposited onto our servers."

She made her way to the door, pausing to look up at Ben. "I'm glad we were able to hash everything out."

Ben placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Me as well."

Alice watched as Sophie exited the office. "What was that about?"

Ben smiled. "Just putting the past behind us." He looked down at her. "I think she and I have made peace."

"I'm glad." Alice squeezed his hand with her uninjured one. "And speaking of the past, there's someone you should meet."

#

Troy wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin and placed it on the plate in front of him. "Great sandwich."

Reggie Lennox rotated his barstool over and grimaced as he looked at that plate as well as the four other empty plates beside it. "Where does it all go?"

The two sat at a bar on the rooftop of the hotel across from AVI where they have been staying. As the third member of the group outside of AVI and a honored resident of esteemed standing, Princess Zara did not object to Ben suggesting they stayed close to her but clearly was not happy with the arrangement.

Reggie sighed and returned to his cognac sitting in front of him. He glanced at his watch and reached for his drink when movement in the lobby caught his eye. He tapped Troy on the shoulder.

"She's here. Why don't you check and make sure our section is ready."

Reggie downed his drink and walked over to the entrance as Princess Zara stepped inside. She wore a neutral expression on her face as she cautiously approached. Reggie ignored it as he executed a formal bow. "Your Highness. I appreciate you accepting my invitation."

The princess gave the bar a hurried glance. "Stop that," she said, gesturing with her hands to stop. "Part of the arrangement I made with my brother is that I maintain some sort of anonymity here in the United States."

Reggie quickly straightened and gestured to a section of the bar where Troy awaited in the middle of a group of leather chairs. "I hope I wasn't too forward in calling you up for a drink, Your Highness. With everything at a standstill and this new guy still out there, Ben wanted me to keep an eye on you."

They walked over to the section. Troy started to bow at the waist but Reggie hastily waved as he stood behind the princess who took a seat in one of the comfortable chairs. Troy settled for an awkward two-fingered salute instead.

Reggie rolled his eyes as he made his way to sit down across from the princess. The glare she gave him could have melted ice as she regarded him in silence. "Uh, is something wrong, Your Highness?"

The princess placed her hands in her lap. "Let me make one thing clear, Mr. Lennox. I have forgiven Ben for the scheme he and his group plotted against me because he was upfront with me. Honest. Sincere. He actually tried to help me. I have no ill will towards him."

She pointed a manicured finger towards him "But I still remember that you played a vital role in the attempt to defraud the royal family of our fortune. That forgiveness does not transfer over to you, I'm afraid."

She stared at him for several seconds longer until a waiter came over to take their drink order. Reggie raised his eyebrows slightly at her request. "Bourbon. You obviously have been hanging around Alice Vaughan."

"Who I hang around with is none of your concern." Zara pulled her cellphone out of her purse and reviewed its contents. "Ah. Alice has returned from wherever she went."

She set the phone down in her lap as she regarded the two men with a thin smile. "I have a plan that will hopefully get Ben out from under _and_ protect all of us. But for this to go off without what you say in this country, a hitch, I require associates."

Reggie looked at the princess with incredulous eyes. "A crew? What do you plan to do? Run a con of your own?"

Zara did not immediately answer as the waiter returned with their drinks. Reggie shook his head as Troy reached for his strawberry smoothie in a frosted mug while he sipped on another cognac. The princess sipped her bourbon once and set it aside.

" _What_ I decided to do is _not_ a con. As I said, what I have _planned_ is twofold for all to benefit."

"And that is part of the definition for a con." Reggie set his drink down on the table beside him. "Princess, do you know the amount of work, the amount of time it takes to plan for any kind of delicate operation? Not to mention a substantial line of credit."

Zara gestured nonchalantly as she sipped her drink, causing Reggie to exchange uncertain looks with Troy.

#

The princess stood in her dining room behind the chair at the head of the table. Three large, metallic suitcases sat on top of the smooth marble surface, each protected by a tall bodyguard who stood with one hand resting on a suitcase.

Reggie did not approach the table as he could see the pistol each bodyguard was holding with his other hand. Instead he looked over to the princess. "And what do we have here?"

The princess turned to her bodyguards and spoke in her native Kuroqi. As one, they each opened their suitcases and spun them for Reggie and Troy to view their contents.

"Thirty million U.S. dollars," she announced as she moved to stand between Reggie and Troy. "Ten million per suitcase. Unmarked, untraceable bills."

Reggie turned and tried to speak but words completely failed him. Troy lightly tapped Zara on the shoulder. "You're planning a payoff."

Zara briefly considered the statement before smiling.

"I'm planning a bid for freedom."

#

Brother and sister glared at each other while standing at opposite ends of the kitchen island in silence. Margot sipped on a white wine from a long stemmed glass while Rhys twisted the top off of a beer bottle.

He took a healthy pull and shook his head. "So you mean to tell me that in all the years you have worked within the firm's infrastructure, you never once came across any kind of clue that would lead you to the ledger?"

Margot rolled her eyes. "For the fiftieth time, no, Rhys! I have no idea where it is, what it looks like, or even what specifically is in it! Don't you think I would have use its secrets a long time ago if I did?"

"Oh yes, I do." Rhys set his beer down. "I most certainly would have."

Margot narrowed her eyes. "And nothing has changed with you. How typical. You have certainly been playing the role of Benedict Arnold rather ruthlessly as of late. You snatched the firm out from under me and absorbed resources and crews throughout the city right under the nose of Agent Diaz, who I heard spoke up for you to have you included in Ben's original informant deal with the FBI."

She circled the island to stand in front of her brother. "But the most disappointing thing that you did that was that you betrayed a man who was like a brother to you. You betrayed Ben."

Rhys started to say something but instead took another sip of his beer. He pulled it down from his lips and looked down at it as he slid in across the island's marble surface. "You're absolutely right, dear sister. I have done unspeakable, unimaginable things to you, Ben, and Tessa. I made Ben go against the FBI to help you and your daughter -"

" _Your niece!"_ Margot slapped the counter top with the palm of her hand with such ferocity that Rhys jumped. "Damnit, as much as the little helion has wrecked our lives, Rhys, Tessa is your niece! Your own flesh and blood!

"You're right! For God's sakes, you are absolutely right." Rhys turned around and examined his beer bottle one last time before pouring the contents into the sink. "My actions might have caused irreparable harm and I … I have much to answer for."

Margot was taken back, startled by Rhys' atonement. She hesitated in her motion, unsure of whether to use the moment to simply walk back to her bedroom or stay and offer words of forgiveness. Deciding that mercy was not easily dispensed, she settled on the one thing that members of her family were known for.

Tough love.

"Yes you do have much to answer for." Margot reached for her glass as she regarded her brother with what she hoped was a stony glare. "But we didn't put you in this position. You alone orchestrated this plot of absolute betrayal. It falls on you to extract yourself from this pickle of a mess you engineered."

Margot raised her glass in a mock salute before retreating down the hall to her room, leaving Rhys alone in the kitchen. He drummed his fingers thoughtfully along the countertop for a minute as he contemplated his next move.

Reaching a decision, he extracted the burner provided by Danny from a jacket pocket. Grimacing at the sight of the bland flip phone in his hand, he dialed a number into the device and typed a quick text message before sending it along to its recipient.

Seconds ticked by as he anxiously waited for a response. He thought of resending the message as a show of a sense of urgency when the phone buzzed in his hand. He hastily opened the text and scanned the words carefully.

"Right," he said, snapping the device shut. "Time to finish this."

#


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Ben carefully looked over the small piece of paper in his hands. He raised his eyes to glance at Alice who sat beside him on the couch. She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

He turned his gaze to the diminutive woman sitting opposite of them. "And you're sure this could work?" He held up the paper.

"Young man, one thing you can always rely on is my memory." Tilda tapped her temple with a forefinger. "What I just gave you is so damning, so _damaging_ that if the right people saw it, they would go to extraordinary lengths to see to it that it stays where it is. Buried and hidden away."

She reached for her coffee resting on the table between her and the couple. "I guarantee you on the grave of my dear mother that if you want out of a jam, that will get you out completely … and for good."

Ben glanced at the paper again, still not convinced. Alice gave his hand another squeeze.

#

Reggie paced in front of the dining table for perhaps the twentieth time. The largest of the Kuroqi bodyguards stood alone on the other side of the table. His eyes followed Reggie's every movement each time he passed the closed cases of cash. His weapon was holstered by order of Her Royal Highness, but visible for maximum effect.

The princess sighed in frustration as she sat drumming her fingers at the head of the table. "If you do not stop that annoying marching, I will have these men shoot you where you stand," she declared irritably. "For the love of everything that is holy, please … sit."

Reggie started to say something but thought better of it as the bodyguards turned their heads in his direction. He smiled nervously as he made his way to a chair two spots down from the princess directly in front of the middle case and settled into the seat. The bodyguard behind it gave a nod of approval.

"With all due respect, Your Highness, I must insist that you rethink this plan. I - I have had dealings with this man for years. We must have worked a dozen jobs and you think that he would remember my name by now, but noooo!" He laughed bitterly. "He turned on his own sister not once but twice to solidify his holdings here in L.A. I trust him as far as I can throw him."

The princess gave him a disbelieving look. "And what should I say about _you_ , Mr. Lennox? It was my understanding that Ben begged you to leave the city when he was going through with his plan to go rogue, and what did you do? You turned on _him_."

The suite entrance opened behind Reggie as the princess spoke. "Yes, the relationships we've fostered always seemed to have been built on betrayal, eh Reggie?"

Reggie turned in his chair to watch Rhys walk in the dining room ahead of Troy and the other two bodyguards. He gave Reggie a thin smile before stopping before the princess and bowing at the waist. He held the pose for several seconds before straightening.

"Your Highness, it would be an honor and privilege to act as your intermediary as I handle negotiations between yourself and Oliver Griffiths." He smiled as he adjusted his blazer. "I guarantee complete success."

The princess slowly rose from her seat. "A part of me wants to contact the FBI and have them come for you, Mr. Griffiths. But I believe Ben and Alice are good people. Anything other than your continued existence would bring them much pain. Hence, the cash."

"I told the princess that you stand the best chance to track down your crazy uncle and cousins and arrange a meeting." Reggie glanced down at the briefcases. "Hopefully thirty million will help them turn the other cheek."

Rhys nodded as he slapped the palms of his hands together. "Right. And I have the perfect idea on how we can make contact."

 _Raymond Taggart is one of the remaining bosses in the city who didn't fall in with my wayward relatives,_ but _I know he's been contacted. We reach out to him._

 _We'll get him to do the work for us._

"Raymond, old chap. That mess with Margot a couple of months ago, it was just business. You have to see that."

Rhys smiled as he pointed to the phone against his ear and gave his audience a thumbs up while they sat outside on the balcony. "Yes, that young lady is indeed Ben and Margot's daughter, which would make her my niece, which would make Ben justified in breaking your wrist for threatening her."

He flashed another smile at Reggie, Troy and the princess while holding the phone several inches from his ear. "Raymond, if you could just stop yelling for a second, I would be more than happy to explain how you could be compensated."

The princess shook her head as she turned to look out over the city. "Who is this Raymond Taggart? Another one of the city's scrupulous criminals?"

"Rhys' sister, with the help of Ben and their daughter acquired a substantial amount of manpower from Taggart's organization," Troy stated in a factual tone as he recalled the information from his flawless memory. "Taggart has been trying to recover ever since, which may be the reason why his organization hasn't been consolidated into Rhys' uncle's new group."

With a bounce in his step, Rhys stepped out onto the spacious balcony. "Taggart is in agreement, provided he is provided a bit of … compensation."

The princess expelled a weary sigh. "How much?"

"Not to worry, my dear. Consider it a check to be cashed later. When he obtains my evil uncle's location, he'll forward that information to me and we'll go meet him."

The princess glanced over her shoulder at Troy and Reggie who gave her an uncertain shrug. She returned her gaze back to Rhys and nodded.

"Then we'll await his call."

#

Alice replaced the phone on the receiver and turned to her guests. "Shawn and the security team searched the house and the surrounding area," she said. "Rhys is gone."

Ben sighed as he leaned back in the couch. "I swear I will never fully know what goes on in his head."

Alice did not reply. Instead she grinned at Valerie who stood beside her desk. Val returned the mischievous look.

Ben noted the exchange and slowly rose to his feet. "I haven't seen you two this happy since you found me at Virginia Foster's house for that wedding. Out with it."

"Well, we decided that we are done trusting anyone with a British accent," said Val. "I had Danny install trackers in the burners we gave Margot and Rhys. They would have to practically take them apart to find them."

Alice sat down at her desk and accessed her laptop. "Let's see. Rhys' signal is strong. Very strong. I … "

She fell silent as she stared at her computer in confusion. "Allie? What's wrong?" asked Ben.

She finally looked up at him and Valerie.

"He's across the street."

#

"You're not familiar with men like Raymond Taggert, Your Gracefulness, so allow me to do all the talking," said Rhys as he led the princess to the door of her suite. Reggie and Troy trailed close behind followed by the Kuroqi bodyguards. Each one easily hefted a suitcase.

Princess Zara frowned at him. "So I am suppose to trust _you_ to negotiate this on my behalf? Doesn't your uncle want you and your sister dead?"

Rhys grinned at her as he reached for the doorknob. "In all my years I have dealt with many complex characters and believe me when I say it will be a welcome change for me to deal with Taggart than it would be with the likes of Alice Vaughan."

He opened the door and turned to step out into the hallway but was greeted with a solid jab to his nose. He immediately backed away, grasping at his face with both hands as his eyes watered. "Ow! What the bloody hell?!"

Alice slowly stepped inside the suite, shaking feeling into her brace supported right hand as her left clutched a pistol. She coolly surveyed the entranceway and noted Zara, Troy and Reggie's appearance as well as that of the bodyguards behind them who stood with weapons drawn.

Rhys glared through his fingers at Alice. "What in blazes was _that_ for?!"

Exasperated, Alice nearly raised her weapon at him but the motion was blocked by Ben who followed her inside. "Take it easy, Allie," he cautioned, directing Alice's gun hand back down to her side. "I'm sure Rhys has a perfectly good explanation for him leaving the safe house and being here in the princess's suite."

He finally took notice of the other occupants in the room as well as the large suitcases resting on the floor. Ben's eyes turned to Rhys with a steely glare.

"What are you up to now?"

#

Ben whistled as he took in the sight of the suitcases' contents as they laid open on the table once again. "This reminds me of the time when -"

Alice playfully held up a finger. "Oh no. I don't need to hear that," she warned.

They both turned from the dining room table to face the princess. Troy and Reggie stood a few feet behind her. "Whose idea was this? His?" Alice pointed an accusing finger at Rhys who stood leaning against the far wall with an ice pack against his face. "I'm surprised he hasn't tried to run out of here with the money."

Rhys started to object but Princess Zara stepped forward. "It was mine, Alice. I obtained the money through the royal family's accounts here in an attempt to bring this to an amicable close."

Alice gave her a sad smile. "And it's appreciated, Zara. Really, it is. But for us to bring this to a close for good, we have to give the FBI something. This … this wouldn't work." She indicated the suitcases.

"Wait a minute." Ben eyed Rhys. "You were going to meet with your uncle after Taggart gets you his location?"

Rhys winced as he removed the ice pack. "Well I bloody well can't go now looking like this!" He pointed to the purple rings arching underneath his eyes.

"It would have been a bad idea to go anyway." Alice crossed her arms. "No telling what direction Oliver Griffiths is leaning but at least one of your cousins want you dead."

A faint buzzing from Rhys' mobile phone interrupted the conversation. He opened it and peered at the screen. "Taggart came through. My dear uncle and at least one of his daughters are at a restaurant right now enjoying a meal. Orchid's the name. Korean-style cuisine."

"I know where it is." Ben looked over at the princess. "Under these circumstances, I think it's better for you to stay here with Alice, Zara. I'll handle this."

Alice scoffed at the announcement as she extracted her phone from her jacket. "Like hell. You don't need to be out and about anywhere yourself."

"Allie, please. You're -"

She had her phone to her ear while cutting him off with a stern look and finger to his lips as she stepped out onto the balcony, closing the door behind her. Ben looked over at Rhys who shrugged in return with a dry smile.

"Oh Benji. Trouble in paradise?"

Ben pointed a finger at him. "Watch it. That nose isn't broken yet but one more door knock should do it."

Alice reappeared from outside, sliding her phone back into her jacket pocket. "I have a plan where we can pretty much kill not one, not two, but _three_ birds with one stone. All you have to do is trust me. Okay?"

She held her hands out to Ben who took them with his own, careful of her injured wrist as he looked into her eyes. "You know I do, Al, but what's up your sleeve?"

Alice grinned.

"Operation: Millennial."

#

Oliver Griffiths grinned as he swiped an eggroll from the plate of his eldest daughter. She glared at him as she pulled her plate close. "Oi! Stop taking my food!"

Griffiths plopped the egg roll in his mouth and licked his fingertips. "Have you ever had Korean food, Ani? It is quite a delicacy."

"No, Father. I'm afraid that my experience with Korean cuisine began today." Anastasia Griffiths scooped up a forkful of rice from her plate. "I told you that we didn't have time for the luxury of a meal. Your nephew is in the wind and our sources haven't been able to find him."

The two sat alone at one of several tableside grills in the restaurant. A few other guests were gathered at the grills enjoying their meals while waitresses milled about with drinks and other items.

A young girl sat next to an older woman at the closest grill with a stuffed toy in her lap. Oliver smiled and gave her a small wave. He laughed when she waved back.

"Father, are you hearing me?"

"I heard you, girl. We'll find that sniveling cod soon enough, my dear. Believe me." He reached for a pint of beer resting by his empty plate. "My nephew has no resources, no allies, not even a disloyal sister to fall back on. It'll only be a matter of time."

He returned his attention to the young girl with the doll who was preparing to depart with her companion. She reached for her doll on the table and gave him one final wave before heading to the exit.

Oliver took a healthy swig and set the glass down, noting a beautiful redhead stepped into view in the foyer, garbed in a white and blue floral printed dress he knew was not bought off the rack. She eyed the interior of the restaurant as she spoke with the hostess for several seconds. The hostess nodded and led the woman down the steps, making their way to the grilling area Oliver and Anastasia occupied.

"We need to arrange another meet and greet with the remaining organizations out there in the city," said Anastasia as she watched the woman take a seat four spots down from Oliver on the opposite corner. "Some of them are too dangerous to be left to their own devices."

Oliver dismissed the notion with a wave of his hand. "Pointless. They're not worth a minute of our time. We have all that we need already."

He eyed the red haired woman as she scanned her menu while scrolling through her phone, laughing silently to herself at something on the screen. She set the phone down after a minute and concentrated on her selection.

Oliver reached over and tapped the table with his finger to get the woman's attention. "If you're looking for a decent dish, try the _dakgangjeong._ Spicy Korean chicken plate."

The woman flipped her menu over. "Is that what you had?" She pointed at his plate.

"Aye, it's hard to get authentic Korean dishes in the U.S. unless you're in L.A., Florida, or New York. Basically the major cities." Oliver smiled. "I would certainly like to tell you about the small spot down the street from my loft. Certainly five star."

The woman continued smiling as she returned her attention to her menu. Anastasia sighed audibly. "Shot down again. I swear, can you ever take the hint?"

Oliver ignored his daughter. "And I would love to take you for a scenic stroll after dinner. The sights are just to die for. Will make you want to forget about whatever poor sap you have back home."

The woman placed her menu on the table before turning her head in his direction. "Sorry but the poor sap? He's a keeper. It took me a while to get him … on the straight and narrow." She smiled with a gleeful glint in her eye. "But I tell you what. Let's play a game."

Anastasia rolled her eyes and reached for her purse as she rose from her seat. "Well while you're trying to _catch_ something, Katherine and I will continue the search for our wayward cousin."

The redhead nodded up at the woman as she came up to her seat. "Nice to meet you."

"Ugh." Anastasia continued past her towards three men who had just stepped into view at the register. The men quickly slid out of her way as she stepped past, not breaking stride.

The woman shrugged before returning her attention to Oliver who somehow slid down a seat closer without her noticing.

"Where were we?"

The woman smirked again. "A game. You said that you had a loft. I bet I can guess where it's located."

"I bet you can't." Oliver began to stretch out for his beer he left by his plate. "It's not around the corner, that's for sure."

"How about Venice?"

His hand stopped less than an inch from the glass at the mention of his adoptive city. The smile slowly faded from his countenance. He took a deep breath and exhaled as he straightened in his chair while reaching into his jacket.

"No no no." The woman wagged a finger at him as she lowered her voice to a conspiratorial tone. "I wouldn't advise that. You see, I'm not alone."

Oliver frowned for a second before slowly taking a look around the restaurant. The three men he saw enter earlier were staged in a booth over to the side of the restaurant looking at them. One stood leaning against the booth, a handsome fellow with a military build held his jacket open displaying the holstered weapon inside under his arm.

"My security team," the woman announced with an air of pride. "That one with the weapon is former Special Forces. The one with the sunglasses and leather gloves is a former assassin.

Oliver leaned in close and whispered with conspiratory air, "And the third dreamboat?"

She leaned in close. "He keeps them in line."

Oliver whistled and shook his head. "Oh to have him keep _me_ in line."

They both grinned as a waitress dropped off another glass of beer for Oliver and gazed expectedly at the new arrival. "Be a dear and bring back a bottle of your best sake. My treat," said Oliver, passing the waitress a folded fifty dollar bill.

The woman smiled. "A drinking lunch? I'll partake of that. I'm really here to find out what will it take for you to leave Rhys Griffiths alone."

"Hmm, let's see." Oliver rubbed his chin. "Anything's on the table?"

The woman shrugged. "Within reason."

Oliver nodded, sitting back in his chair and folding his arms. "My terms are simple: complete and uncontested control of the Kensington Firm and all its holdings and assets both domestic and international."

The woman's brow furrowed as if deep in thought. "That may prove to be very difficult."

Oliver reached for his drink. "Oh? Why?"

The woman held off answering as the waitress arrived with a tray which she set on the table between her and Oliver. The waitress poured the blue and brown bottle's contents into two small cups and passed them to her customers before disappearing.

Oliver stared at the cup in his hand without raising it to take a sip. "Why would it be so hard, dear?"

#

Agent Shawn slid into the booth beside Danny. "What are we doing here? Alice and this guy are just talking. Aren't we going to take him in?"

The Hammer pulled a handkerchief from his jacket. "Cause and effect."

Shawn raised an eyebrow. "Cause and effect?"

"Cause and effect," the Hammer repeated as he cleaned the lenses of his sunglasses. "She asked you to display your weapon to him when he glanced this way. It effectively caused him to consider his options."

Shawn looked over at Danny who shrugged. "I don't think that's the meaning but we'll roll with it," he said, glancing at the front door of the restaurant as it opened.

His eyes widened in surprise as he took in the appearance of the newcomer, a handsome man dressed in a custom made suit. He smiled at the hostess and followed her down the stairs to where Alice and Oliver Griffiths sat.

"What the hell?"

The Hammer glanced over at the new arrival. "Who's he?"

Danny sighed as he watched the man pull up a chair close and sat between Alice and Oliver. "The only thirty-something in the world who thinks he's a millennial." Danny chuckled to himself. "Meet Tommy Vaughan. Alice's younger brother."

#


End file.
